THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) said it is deeply concerned at the strike action by the Diamond workers and the call for severance pay.
A press release said: “The Corporation wishes to state that the retirement of the Diamond Lands is part of a programme to consolidate and modernize our East Demerara Estates, where our two factories have been working well below their respective capacities. We are also working assiduously to ensure our workers are not made redundant; rather our plans will provide greater employment opportunities for them.”
“It is in this context that the Corporation finds it difficult to understand the approach of some workers and the union and what appears to be a deliberate attempt by some to mislead the public.”
The release noted that the Diamond cultivation is part of the LBI Estate notwithstanding, workers at Diamond are provided with a disturbance allowance by the Corporation which is time based for the extra travel to the LBI cultivation.
“We wish to emphasise that the Corporation has never denied anyone severance when it was rightly due; but in the present circumstances, it is clear to us that this is not an option,” GuySuCo said.
The corporation added that there is also the possibility that if the workers were to be made redundant, this could necessitate the closure of the LBI factory as the workforce to ensure a more timely cane supply would decline further.
GuySuCo also described reports that workers who travel to LBI are not provided with work as completely false stating that because of the current ‘El Nino’ phenomenon, the Estate does not have the ability to irrigate its fields; hence, any category of workers affected has been offered suitable alternative work.
“ We also wish to clarify that out of our total workforce of over 400 attached to the Diamond cultivation, only 10 live beyond Friendship on the East Bank of Demerara and 14 travel from across the Demerara River.”

“GuySuCo wishes to emphasise that as part of its plan to return the Industry to viability, it has absolutely no desire to make any worker redundant. This is a far cry from experiences in other countries, where workers at every level are made redundant as businesses downsize or close.”

“The Corporation has written to the workers union, Guyana Agricultural and general Workers Union (GAWU) to encourage its membership to support our initiatives to return the Industry to profitability and in this process, secure the employment opportunities for workers and their families,” GuySuCo declared.

GuySuCo also explained that in this challenging period for the Industry, where some are attempting to capitalise on our current position by distorting the realities of our rebuilding efforts, the corporation remains firm in its entrenched objective of returning the industry to profitability in the shortest possible time.