Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo at a meeting with sugar workers of the Uitvlugt Estate yesterday afternoon announced a menu of relief measures, including proposed small business grants of up to $250,000.
Many workers from the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) Uitvlugt Estate have been unable to work since March. The sugar factory has been defunct for months after experiencing mechanical issues.
At the meeting with the workers, Jagdeo discussed ways in which assistance can be provided to impacted employees who have not been able to work since the factory has been down.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, who was part of the team that accompanied Jagdeo, last night told Stabroek News that these measures were to provide alternative avenues for families to earn an income.
He stated that the Vice President proposed relief measures such as the small business grant which ranges from $200,000 to $250,000 to assist families in setting up income generating activities.
According to Indar, the grants can be used to support and start up small neighbourhood shops, poultry businesses, farms and other ventures that will assist in bringing revenue for families.
He added that the Vice President said they will be providing training opportunities but in the interim they will also be offering part-time jobs, where persons will work for ten days a month, to earn some $40,000 a month.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report on the meeting, Jagdeo told the gathering that there are many opportunities in the construction and labour sectors and they will be providing training to persons desirous of working in those areas to supplement their income.
“These are good paying jobs, but it is the type of industries that people are building into. So, in construction we have unlimited demand for carpenters and masons and welders and electricians to retrain, unlimited demand. A good paying job anywhere at this time, people would recruit you, even for retraining,” Jagdeo was quoted as saying.
He went on to add “If you can find me, coming out of this meeting, here and in the community, any number of people we can start the training programme almost immediately and assist you, so that when you come out you have a skill, that is marketable that will earn you much, much more money.”
The report stated that the Vice President also told the workers if they would like to remain at the estate, government will support the payment of wages and salaries for those who wish to work six days per week. He gave the assurance after stating that the jobs currently available at the estate are low paying.
“…we made a commitment that we have to keep sugar going until every sugar worker, either has a job in a high price industry, converting sugar, adding on some value added, allowing them to continue working there or alternately finding a job in another high paying sector for every sugar worker,” Jagdeo said before stating that the PPP/C government is committed to assisting them fully throughout the process in transitioning to new jobs.
Back in April, President Irfaan Ali during an outreach in the region, said that the Government will ensure they stay employed. At that time, he was able to organise temporary employment for out-of-work cane harvesters of the Uitvlugt Estate, a statement from the Office of the President said.
A traditional low performer in the industry, the Uitvlugt estate’s grinding operations have been affected for at least three months, resulting in a major setback.
During the meeting held with hundreds of workers at the Uitvlugt Community Centre on the West Coast of Demerara, the President said that the estate would find alternative work for six days per week on a short term basis for the sugar workers.
“You have a Government who understands your pain; you have a Government who is committed to working with you and helping you. As we said when we came back, we are here to ensure that the sugar sector succeeds and ensure that we keep employment and not displace employment,” President Ali said.
During that interaction, he said that plans were being formulated to register the workers to be part of a livelihood improvement programme to supplement their estate jobs. One of the options is the establishment of chicken establishments where workers will be able to take part in poultry farming with approximately 150-200 birds.
“We are going to try to get the resources so that you don’t stay without work, you get the six days per week, and at the same time, we are going to work with you to support you with the livelihood option”, he said.
A broken turbine gear in the factory halted operations since March. According to a source, the estate has ordered a replacement part but it is yet to arrive in the country.
“They order a new one [replacement part] from a company overseas but that would take some time to come in the country,” the source said.
The spare gear part is expected to be in the country by July.
Estate Manager, Yudhisthira Mana last month explained that a foreign engineering company, Nexus Engineering, was commissioned to fabricate parts to replace the broke turbine gearbox.
A source had previously told this newspaper that the gear has to be replaced but sourcing its replacement has been a challenge since the part was manufactured decades ago and the manufacturer has gone out of business.
Mana had said, “The part that was damaged in the factory is one that is over 50 years old. It is one that normally don’t be on ordering and safe keep because (it has) rarely been damaged, and so to say just have one on standby to replace, we don’t normally have that.”
The estate manager pointed out that Nexus Engineering had to engage in reverse engineering to construct the spare part since there was no blueprint to guide the fabrication.
“They had all the parts to repair the unit and they said they will assist us and started the process… we are looking to have some parts to ship in the country… we will be having it soon in a very short space of time. It is very challenging to have this unit repaired,” the Manager said then.
Jagdeo was also accompanied yesterday by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall.
