The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) refers to Mr Abel Seetaram’s letter titled “The dead, sugar, PPP and GAWU gains” which appeared in the January 10, 2018 Guyana Chronicle and Kaieteur News. From his letter, Mr Seetaram we recognized is engaged in all sorts of gymnastics and let the Government and GuySuCo off the hook for the sad and depressing situation that has now engulfed scores of villages and thousands of ordinary, now jobless, Guyanese.
While Mr Seetaram contends that the workers were well aware for some time that they would have received redundancy letters, one cannot help but come to the conclusion that the Region #5 councilor had not been paying keen attention to the news. Certainly had he being doing so, he would have known that Minister of State, Joseph Harmon is reported in the November 17, 2017 Guyana Chronicle as saying “the scheduled year-end closure of the Rose Hall and Enmore estates will be delayed until 2018”. Given the Minister’s announcement workers would have obviously been disturbingly surprised to receive letters telling them that their last day of work was December 29, 2017.
The letter writer then goes on arguing that the Government should put profits before people, something President David Granger said he is opposed to if his remarks in Nairobi are anything to go by. Again, Mr Seetaram’s ignorance of the news is exposed as only days ago President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, Mohamad Raffik, according to the January 05, 2018 Stabroek News, told Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder in reference to the closure of estate that “… financial consideration of profitability is important, yes, but it is not the only criteria the government got to look at”.
Mr Seetaram went on saying that our Union, among others, have sought to link the suicides of the workers to the plans for sugar. This is not hearsay or gossip but the cold hard reality that has been spawned from the heartless and cruel plans to put people out of work without any glimmer of hope for a secured future. No amount of confabulations or justifications by Mr Seetaram and his colleagues can take away the pain and hurt the loved one of the two (2) sugar workers have felt and are feeling at this time.
Then not surprisingly, Mr Seetaram ignominiously seeks to blame GAWU for the actions taken by the two (2) workers. This is beyond comprehension, is reprehensible and speaks to the low levels that are being sunk to in order to justify, regardless of the consequences, the decisions taken with respect to the sugar industry. We want to tell the letter writer that GAWU was duty-bound to tell the workers the truth, a truth staring the workers in their faces. How could we paint a rosy picture when there was no paradise to go to. Minister Harmon, in the article we referred to earlier, is reported to say that the delay in the closure were due “since no system has been put in place for the sugar workers following the closure”. This reality is borne out, as Mr Seetaram’s friends, who occupy the seats of power, have not gone to tell the workers what is in store for them. All they see is a despondent future.
GAWU as a responsible organization urged workers not to take extreme manifestations as we have seen in two (2) cases. We do not believe that can be deemed an answer and we have advised workers and others who are affected to seek counsel of others and to share their thoughts. We have even shared with workers the contact information of the national suicide hotline in an effort to give the thousands affected an outlet to vent their frustrations. Right now, for thousands in the sugar belt they are hurt, dismayed and despondent by the vindictive and spiteful act to punish them for reasons best known to the decision makers.
