In response to recent reports of their Berbice location being shut down, Amazon Caribbean Guyana Ltd. (AMCAR) said that the situation not only stemmed from an inadequate number of harvesters, but also from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) not providing any help although letters were sent informing the union of the situation.
A release issued by AMCAR stated, “However, for over 2 years the company periodically advised GAWU about our difficulties in Berbice due to lack of harvesters in the Berbice river which does not allow the company to reach the breakeven point. Yet, GAWU never really took any actions towards it such as helping us locating harvesters although there were significant job opportunities for individuals like former sugar cane cutters.”
The company said that even though several letters were sent to the union, they have received no reply since. “More recently the CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of the company had informed GAWU in letters dated June 09th and further letter dated June 17th, of the situation of the company which could result (in) putting on hold our operation until we could find additional harvesters to supply (manicole) cabbages to the Berbice factory. Despite those warnings, GAWU never replied offering their own involvement looking for labour forces.”
GAWU on Monday said that they were shocked about the company’s choice to shut down.
The company also not only suffered from the insufficient labour force to supply the cabbages needed, but also from the high cost of living that Guyanese are currently facing. However, although they were forced to shut down the Berbice operations due to the aforementioned reasons, AMCAR made it clear that their business is not permanently closed and that it is not for sale.
“Despite all efforts, the supply was not as consistent as promised by communities, remaining insufficient to reach breakeven at the Berbice factory. The Company was forced to stop production until adequate supply is available. The financial analysis of the first 6 months of 2022 confirmed that it was not feasible for the Berbice factory to continue operating with such a low volume of cabbages… as of July 2022, the company had no fruit to process in its Berbice factory. AMCAR tried to buy some non-organic fruit from farmers, but the price is too high to make any processed product competitive. Finally, despite measures taken by the Government to keep the fuel affordable, prices skyrocketed pushing up production cost to a point where a decision had to be made,” the release stated.
It further informed, “Unfortunately, by July 22nd, the number of suppliers and the volume of cabbages remained insufficient, and the factory continued running at 20% capacity. The Company had to stop the Berbice operation. However, Berbice factory is not closed and not for sale! We hope to resume operations as soon as we will locate 200 harvesters and supply 50,000 cabbages a week.”
They also need some 400 additional harvesters for their factory in Region One.
Moreover, AMCAR insists that it tried its best to be fair with the 24 factory workers that were laid off. “The company thought that laying off employees for 6 weeks without pay was not the best for the employees. Giving them notice will ensure that they will receive a salary until August 22nd, when they will receive also their severance benefits as per the Severance Act.”
CEO of the company, Jean-Francois Gerin, had previously told Stabroek News that they have spoken with several governmental agencies and have since proposed to hire migrants who are in need of a job, rather than having them depend on cash grants. He said that the opportunity would allow them to be economically proactive. However, that proposition is still to be finalised.
