The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) is still investigating the fatal bee attack that resulted in the death of a sugar worker at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, according to President Komal Chand.
Chand told Stabroek News on Wednesday that GAWU is currently talking to the management of the GuySuCo to understand the incident and decide what actions will be taken.
“We [GAWU] are talking and trying to find out where the bees were and whether GuySuCo had exercised enough care and attention to have them destroyed,” Chand said, while noting that the information that has been gathered so far is not substantial enough for the union to make a decision on the next step.
“We know that the bees attacked some cows and the cows ran in the direction of the workers, so it wasn’t that the bees were just close by to where they were working and so we are trying to get that kind of information,” he added.
Chand stated that if there were any violations by GuySuCo, then the union would take action against the corporation. “If there were any violation, then we would but if it was an accident—and that’s what we are trying to find, whether the employer wasn’t careful and ignored information—then it’s an unfortunate matter where the bees reached the people because of the cows,” Chand added.
He noted that if it is found that there was negligence on the part of GuySuCo, then the union would be in a position to make legal claims. “…Or if they want to make a gratuitous payment, they can, but again it depends on the circumstances. The first question is about the incident itself, what caused it to happen and if they knew the area was infested by bees and could’ve affected the workers because it was close by to the cultivation,” he added.
Almost two weeks ago, Romesh Lalaram along with seven other sugar workers were in the cane fields when thousands of bees attacked them, killing him and severely injuring another. One of the survivors had told Stabroek News that the eight men were on the dam with their tractors waiting for fuel so that they could transport the cane when a swarm of thousands of bees attacked them.
All the men quickly ran for cover and some of them had even jumped into nearby trenches.
While Lalaram had jumped into a trench, it was too shallow to protect him from the bees and he tried to move to another deeper trench but met his demise. After one of the workers managed to escape from the onslaught of bees, he was able to run to the roadside and seek assistance from other workers who were there. The other workers rushed back the scene with the man and lit fires in a bid to get rid of the bees. Lalaram and the others were rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The worker that was severely injured was discharged several days later and made a full recovery.
Lalaram’s son told Stabroek News on Wednesday that the family had not engaged the sugar corporation in any discussions for compensation. He noted that GuySuCo had been very helpful and supportive towards the family.
