WORKERS attached to the Wales Estate and officials from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) staged a protest outside the Ministry of the Presidency on Tuesday, objecting to the closure of Wales sugar factory, which will take effect in December.The union has said in a statement it believes that this decision to have the factory closed is a step in the wrong direction, and it would certainly result in great hardship to thousands of people as it negatively impacts the economy.

Several of the Wales workers have already opted to collect severance packages from GuySuCo, but payment of these has been delayed because of legal action taken by the union.
The union is of the belief that the decision to close the factory was taken without an assessment being made of the consequences to employment: the availability of jobs, possibilities of finding new jobs in the communities, or the worsening social conditions the closure would create for workers.

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder had earlier this year disclosed that GuySuCo is currently involved in a number of feasibility studies that would enable Government to decide on the best mix of activities to ensure the economic viability of the Wales Estate in particular, and GuySuCo in general. Those studies are being conducted in the areas of cattle rearing for dairy purposes, orchard crop cultivation, aquaculture, etc., and are expected to be completed by the mid-August of this year.

One of the companies carrying out the feasibility studies is United States-based AquaSol Inc – an aquaculture consulting company that provides expert opinions, technology transfer, and aquaculture project management services to new and existing aquaculture projects worldwide.

GAWU has contended that the factory closure would also affect scores of cane farmers who will be unable to afford the additional cost to transport their canes the long distance to Uitvlugt.

GuySuCo has advised that the affected workers would largely be absorbed by Uitvlugt Estate, but GAWU is of the view that this is simply not possible, given the estate’s present force and efforts to increase mechanization at that location.

Minister Holder has, however, pointed out that 60% of farmers’ canes are closer to Uitvlugt than Wales. He added that measures are also being put in place to facilitate the transportation of canes via an all-weather road linking the two estates.

Farmers are also advised of the option of accepting lands which are closer to the Uitvlugt Estate. “The truth of the matter is this: Government cares about GuySuCo. We want to see GuySuCo survive, and in order to do so, some very hard decisions have to be made,” Minister Holder stated, while pointing to the fact that both the Wales and Uitvlugt factories are currently operating at 50% capacity.

The union, meanwhile, is calling on Government to act wisely, sensibly, and with dispatch; reverse its decision, for the consequences are too dire. “GAWU urges support for the workers in their just struggle to safeguard their jobs and families’ livelihoods. At this time, the Union also wishes to inform the public that friends of the workers have taken an initiative to express solidarity through a petition on the internet and urge the supportive public to sign same”, the statement said.