–but constrained by injunction

THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) says it is being restrained from paying severance to workers from Wales Estate in keeping with the orders of the High Court.Of late, speculation has been rife about whether GuySuCo can still pay the embattled workers severance, even though an injunction was granted in the High Court by Justices William Ramlal and Diane Insanally in favour of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE).
Earlier this month, GuySuCo was ordered by the High Court to cease whatever plans it has about sending home employees attached to the Wales Sugar Estate, as by law, their union must first be consulted before any such action can be taken.
The matter is due to come up in the High Court again this Tuesday at 09:00hrs.
In January this year, GuySuCo, citing economic reasons, made known its intention to close the Wales Sugar Estate. It had explained that the investment required to refurbish the sugar factory was significant, and that it simply does not have the finances to maintain it.
That announcement was met with various protestations from the sugar workers themselves and private cane farmers among other stakeholders in the sugar industry.
Both unions, GAWU and NAACIE, had pointed out that the sugar corporation, as promised, did not inform them of its intention to replace sugar cultivation and production.
The government, nevertheless, is contending that diverting funds from the other estates to keep Wales afloat would seriously jeopardise the future of all estates, and that that cannot be allowed to happen.
“It is impossible to make sugar production at Wales viable,” it said, adding:
“This is made worse by the gloomy outlook for sugar prices for the foreseeable future. Wales Estate is projected to make a loss of [between] G$1.6B and $1.9B in 2016.
“This, coupled with the extent of refurbishment needed, renders this estate prohibitively costly to maintain.”