— GAWU awaits details of incident
PRESIDENT of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Mr. Komal Chand said the union is still awaiting details surrounding yesterday’s dismissal of nine employees attached to the Enmore Sugar Factory. Chand made this pronouncement yesterday afternoon, during a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle, wherein he was asked to pronounce on GAWU’s position on those terminations.
“We have heard about the matter, and we were told that GuySuCo (Guyana Sugar Corporation) has released a statement, but, so far, none of the workers (has) contacted us. We have contacted the Union Officer attached to that estate to get in touch with those workers,” he said.
Chand also noted that because GAWU had not yet seen the statement from GuySuCo, he would not be able to comment on the dismissal until all the facts were available to him.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation said it followed established disciplinary procedures in taking the decision yesterday to terminate the employment of nine employees attached to the Enmore Sugar Factory after conducting thorough investigations.
GuySuCo, in a statement, said its action follows an incident which occurred on Friday, February 17 last, when the employees were sent to the LBI factory with specific instructions to uplift a quantity of lumber and carrier slats for use at the Enmore factory.
“During their time inside the factory, the men were observed by  a security personnel loading several cast iron structures (firesides) onto a tractor-drawn trailer; and when questioned, they informed the individual that they had permission from a senior GuySuCo official, which later proved to be false,” the release stated.
The security personnel became suspicious and contacted the security department at the LBI compound, whose personnel began following the movements of the tractor and trailer the men were using. They were allowed to exit the first security gate at the factory, but were stopped at the main gate as they were about to exit the LBI compound, the statement added.
When stopped, the driver of the tractor and trailer produced a consignment note for the thirteen pieces of hard wood and twelve carrier slats they were instructed to uplift, but did not produce permission to uplift any other item; and upon closer inspection, the security team discovered several other items, including 4 metal firesides, 1 heavy duty vice, 1 transformer, and electrical components which the employees were not authorized to remove.
The employees were then detained, and checks inside the LBI factory revealed that approximately eight feet of 18-inch steel pipe were cut off from the pipe which conveys hot water to the factory to make the four firesides. Additionally, the metal panel which houses the transformer was burnt open with a cutting torch, and the transformer removed. A metal fuse box was burnt open and three fuses were removed, causing a total cut-off of electricity to parts of the factory. The lights were removed from the western end of the factory on the upper floor.
During the investigation into the incident, the investigative team found that some of the employees from Enmore admitted to removing and loading the stolen items, while those who denied any involvement were fingered by their colleagues or pointed out by other eyewitnesses who were present at the scene on the day in question.
“The alertness and prompt action by the employees who observed what was unfolding, and their interest in protecting the property of the sugar industry, (were) also commended,” the statement said.
GuySuCo said that a comprehensive report was prepared after exhaustive interviews with all involved, and the recommendations made by the investigating team were enforced.
GuySuCo took the  opportunity to urge its  employees to report any instances of malpractice on the worksite, as such instances add up to severely affect the operations of the sugar industry annually.