WORKERS aligned to the Guyana Agricultural Workers’ Union (GAWU) staged a protest against the privatisation of the Skeldon Estate on the first day of the first crop for the year on Tuesday.

The estate was out of operation due to a faulty boiler which has since been fixed.
This move by GAWU has taken many by surprise since it has come after several months of non-activity at the estate.

Many who spoke with Guyana Chronicle say they had to follow suit since they are of the view that if they did not join the protest, they would be deemed traitors.

“I glad the estate finally start grinding cause I did deh out a work for a long time, now we hear we get protest on the day we gotta start chop cane, I vex but gotta follow the cause they does represent we, but we could a do this before crop start suh it ain’t gonna affect we from earning,” a worker from the Upper Corentyne said.

Members of the business community also found the move strange and some even questioned the motive of GAWU since they too felt the protest action could have been held in the off-period or at a later date.

“I don’t have a problem with the protest but the timing is just wrong, they could have done this before the crop start or wait until them get settled in rather that protest on the first day of the crop.”

Gobin Harbhajan, regional representative for the Office of the Prime Minister, who has been exchanging words with GAWU via letters in the media, said the move by GAWU is a clear indication that they do not have the interest of the workers at heart.

WICKED
He described the move as being “a wicked and vindictive act aimed at creating mischief which will only cause misery to the workers” at the Skeldon Estate.

“I find this very sickening that only yesterday (Monday) Skeldon Estate burnt cane after nine months of servicing the boiler so that workers could have turned out today but GAWU chose to hold a protest which caused 60 per cent of workers not to turn out to work. Where was GAWU from January to September when these workers were not working? GAWU doesn’t have the workers interest at heart and have their own hidden agenda; to me this is all political.”

Harbhajan contended that GAWU’s action is a reverse of what it preaches, pointing out that the union keeps lamenting that the government of the day is placing the workers on the breadline yet when they have an opportunity to let them earn they are choosing to strike.

“As the prime minister regional representative many sugar workers had visited my office with all sort of problems and sometimes I asked them where the GAWU representatives are in these times and the answer is none but yet they will use the workers for calling strikes and protest and make unreasonable demands. The actions of GAWU have revealed their true objective and today brought themselves to the lowest as a union.”

The workers organised by GAWU gathered at the estate compound and marched from the estate to the Independence Square, where they were addressed by the union representatives and fellow workers.

UNSAVOURY COMPARISON
President of GAWU, Komal Chand, in his address referred to the government as being equal to Hurricane Irma in terms of the destruction they have caused the country.

He lamented that unlike Irma, which passed through for a short period, the government has been at the helm for two years and workers are subjected to the wrath of their sledgehammer, which is responsible for the sad state of affairs of several industries, including sugar.

Chand accused the government of having double standards while claiming to put the interest of the people first but are merely looking out for themselves.

He made reference to the 50 per cent increase which ministers have enjoyed since the new government took office while the workers have had little or nothing in comparison. He urged the workers to not give up but keep fighting and promised that the union will not allow the efforts of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to go down in vain.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the Union, Seepaul Narine, said there is no need to privatise the Skeldon Estate since last year alone the co-generation plant earned over $9.5 billion.

This figure, he said is proof that the industry, specifically Skeldon, can be profitable and was not a failed investment.

The protest by GAWU came as the government expressed the desire to have the Skeldon Estate privatised due to numerous problems that has been plaguing the factory since it began operation in 2011. Since then several companies have expressed a desire to take over the reins of the estate, including local companies.

Recently reports have surfaced that a South African consultant, who was hired by the previous administration to fix some of the defects at the factory, highlighted to upper management that the numbers at the estate were skewed to make the estate appear to be performing better than what was actually happening.

This report was reportedly swept under the rug and the consultant was banned from entering certain sections of the factory.

Since taking power, the government has tabled a white paper on the industry as it seeks to get it out of the doldrums and make it profitable.

This move included closing a few estates and diversification of those in operation to make them profitable rather than ploughing billions of taxpayers’ money into the industry as the previous administration had done for numerous years with no plan of saving the industry.