Dear Editor,
Kindly permit me space in your newspaper to let the public know what is happening at Demerara Timbers Ltd. at its interior location, Mabura Hill, in the upper Demerara River.
Demerara Timbers Limited is manned by Malaysians. Workers are not pleased with what is going on here; we are employed as monthly/daily paid workers on a six-month contract. When we work overtime on Sundays and holidays, we receive flat pay for those days.
Also, we have no safety gears on the job, no ambulance. If a worker gets sick that worker has to wait for hours to get transportation to take them out to get medical attention or hire private transportation at their own expense. Additionally, they provide no transportation to take workers from and to Mabura, we hike at our own expense, the bus fare is between $7,000 and $8,000 one way.
The expatriates are treated differently. If you talk for your rights, your services will be dismissed. They have workers living and working in the forest with no available transportation in an emergency. There is no First Aid Kit. When we ask we’re told we have to purchase our own.
I am asking the Minister of Labour, Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union to look into this matter. The situation is gross.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
