MINISTER of State Joseph Harmon on Thursday told the National Assembly that a “huge chunk” of money has been allocated in the 2018 National Budget for retrenched sugar workers even as political stakeholder, the Alliance for Change (AFC) expresses deep concern for the welfare of the sugar workers.

During his budget debates presentation, Harmon said those workers who have been laid off by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) will receive severance.
“There is a huge chunk of money in there (budget) for severance,” he declared while members of the governing side of the House shouted “we are a caring government”.

The Minister of State criticized the parliamentary opposition for trying to tell the public and in particular sugar workers that the APNU+AFC coalition government is uncaring. That is far from the truth he said.

“Budget 2018 contains a provision to offset severance pay for GuySuCo workers. The Opposition must communicate this to workers,” the Minister of State stated.
It is unclear how much money has been allocated specifically for this purpose but the identified sum is in the billions. Attempts to confirm the amount Thursday proved futile. There has been much disquiet about the Guyana Sugar Company (GUYSUCO) move to issue redundancy letters to sugar workers.

On Tuesday, Harmon told reporters that Cabinet was not informed of GUYSUCO’s move, especially after indicating in November that the scheduled year-end closure of the Rose Hall and Enmore estates will be delayed until 2018, since no system has been put in place for the sugar workers.

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder said the decision was in keeping with the White Paper presented the National Assembly earlier this year. But the major coalition partner, the Alliance for Change (AFC) on Thursday insists that all mechanisms must be in place to deal with the retrenched workers.

“The Party insists that as per the requirements in law, severance must be in place,” and recommends that in addition to severance, consideration must be given to “offer of land leases for alternative economic engagement, access to small concession loans for said alternative engagement and access to extension services and markets for agro-processing,” the AFC said in a statement.

Acknowledging the State Paper on GUYSUCO which was laid in the National Assembly sometime in May outlines varying actions relative to the industry which are necessary and unavoidable if the sugar industry is to be regularised and become sustainable; the Party believes that the matter needs to be dealt with properly.

“The Party is cognizant that GuySuCo has been engaging with the workers and their unions for some time now regarding actions which are necessary and calls on GuySuCo to intensify this initiative to ensure that all workers are adequately briefed, counseled and are presented with all the necessary information regarding the future status of GuySuCo and the sugar sector,” a statement from the AFC said.

Additionally, the party noted the future of GUYSUCO is “of paramount importance” while accepting that government must continue to pursue those options for the sugar industry which is not a burden on the national treasury. “The AFC looks forward to an amicable resolution to this issue, but insists that as the Yuletide season is upon us, workers must not be adversely affected and the offer of severance must be thoroughly detailed and presented to the workers now,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, Holder reminded the National Assembly during his budget debate presentation this week that since taking office, the APNU+AFC Government bailed GUYSUCO out with $32B. This year, there is a $6.3B allocation in 2018 budget for the Company. Another $2.3B is estimated for 2019, he added while noting that capital investment of $12B will be required over the next three years 2018-2020 to ensure that the sugar production targets are met.