No credible plans for Wales’ workers – GAWU

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), says the Government does not have any credible plans for the development of the Wales Estate after the sugar factory is closed which will result in thousands of workers being thrown on the breadline.

“GAWU remains unconvinced that we are heading in the right direction regarding Wales Estate. The Union is convinced that the right, caring, pro-worker thing to do is to reverse the decision for closure and instead to seek together with the stakeholders a workable plan for the Estate to overcome its difficulties,” a release from the organisation stated.

This statement comes after Agriculture Minister Noel Holder announced that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Incorporated (GuySuCo) and the Government are currently examining various possible ventures to take place at Wales after the factory closure.

However, prior to these revelations, GuySuCo’s Chairman told media operatives that the Corporation was examining the feasibility of alcohol production and were considering providing that lands to workers for them to engage in farming. “The views from these two authoritative persons vary somewhat, and more significantly they give credence to the widely-held notion that the decision to close Wales Estate was hastily made and not well thought-out,” the release further stated.

The Union has posited that what can be inferred is that there are no credible plans for the Estate and its workers at this time, and that presently the relevant studies are now being undertaken.

“It is numbing to realise that GuySuCo’s Board Chairman and the Minister of Agriculture could have pursued a decision that would put at risk the livelihoods of thousands of our working people without the necessary critical investigation done. At this time a relevant question arises; what would be the position if it turns out that the identified ventures are not viable? Such a question is even more appropriate if we recall that GuySuCo in the not-too-distant past has experimented with similar ventures with discouraging results. There is a tendency to forget that projects while seemingly worthwhile on paper and in the board rooms were found so often to be wanting in implementation and in practice,” the correspondence read.

The Union reiterated that the Wales Sugar Factory is capable of surmounting its present challenges, adding that the Union subscribes to the view that the Industry must be re-organised to firstly increase efficiency followed by sustained policies to engage stakeholders as well as modernisation to transition it from the concept of a “Sugar” Industry to a “Sugar Cane” Industry in which the entire sugar cane plant is used to produce many other products apart from sugar to bolster its revenue stream.