IN what has been described in some quarters as a triple protest, several opposition Members of Parliament on Monday joined picketers outside the Public Buildings to register their disapproval of three major issues.
Those issues are the government’s imposition of a Value Added Tax (VAT) on private education, its proposed closure of the Wales and Enmore sugar estates, and its ban on used tyres.
The protestors proper, most of whom were clad in red, fed off each other’s anxieties, while unanimously bashing the government for the decisions taken in relation to the aforementioned matters.

Yet another faction, which initially took to Vlissengen Road outside the Ministry of the Presidency and the Ministry of Agriculture to air their grievances, were opposed to the government’s decision to increase fees for drainage and irrigation, and comprised primarily of farmers from Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

Those from the Enmore Estate were calling on the government to revoke its decision to close the Rose Hall and Enmore Estates mere minutes before Minister of Agriculture, Mr Noel Holder could announce to the National Assembly that the proposed deadline is by year-end.
He revealed that Enmore will be closed after all its sugarcanes will have been harvested, while Rose Hall will be closed when arrangements for the amalgamation of its operations with Albion’s will have been finalised.
The Enmore posse of mainly women spoke at length of how the closure will affect their ability to provide for their children.

“We will have no job; we will have no money; we will have no power,” lamented one protestor who said she has been employed at the estate for over 25 years.
“We’ll have no income, no spending. What are we going to do? What are they planning to do with the people,” she wailed.
Another, this time from the Wales Estate, was joined by her young children in calling on the government to pay workers their severance package, while others questioned whether the government was willing to find them jobs so they could feed their children.
As Minister Holder painstakingly explained to the House, the Wales Estate will be merged with the Uitvlugt Estate, while its sugarcanes will be re-assigned to the Uitvlugt Factory.
Those workers who will be out of a job, he said, will have the opportunity of leasing land from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) so they could engage in other agricultural activities.
“The government is cognizant of the invaluable contribution of the sugar industry over the years; it will not allow GuySuCo to die from preventable causes,” Minister Holder said, adding:
“However, we cannot let GuySuCo continue to utilise a business model that is based on waste, inefficiency and hopelessness, ultimately leading to its undoing.”