-workers will be brought back on during December

AUSTRALIAN-owned, Troy Resources Inc., will be looking to return to full strength by next year, said Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, who said the company will start to rebuild its staff complement by hiring more workers during December.

Troy Resources had sacked close to 150 workers in October, after Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott, had issued a cessation order to the company following the death of Geologist, Ryan Taylor, at the gold company’s “Hick’s One Extension” pit.

The company has three pits, the other two being “Larkin” and “Smarts Three”. Taylor died while on duty, after he was buried beneath the rubble of the mining pit which collapsed.
“An officer of the Ministry’s Occupational Safety and Health Department has conducted a preliminary investigation which has determined that there is need for further inquiry, particularly in relation to Larkin and Smarts Three,” stated the letter from Minister Scott.
“This decision is taken with the utmost concern for the safety and lives of the most valued resource which is our human resource – managerial and non-managerial alike,” the letter added.

The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ken Nilsson, and General Manager, Eric Olsen, had said the company, in its suspended state, lost some US$40,000 per day due to expenses to remain in existence. It was reported that overall, the company had approximately 500 employees, including about 80 contracted workers.

Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally had, however, sought to encourage the company to restart operations by reversing the cessation order that was issued by Minister Scott.
“We have since received the assurance that some work will start soon, but right now, on site, there are about 150 workers who are working,” said Minister Trotman in an interview with Social Activist, Mark Benschop, during a programme on Benschop Radio, on Tuesday.

The minister said the company has also given the assurance, by way of letter, that workers will be “brought back on” by the end of December and by next year the company will return to full strength.

“I had strong words to say about the manner in which workers were laid off, but we need these operations back up and we need to get the workers back up so they can take money back to their families,” said Minister Trotman.
A team of Cabinet members was established to engage stakeholders such as the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Ministry of Social Protection, on issues pertaining to Troy Resources and to find ways of getting the company’s operations up and running.

“We want investors to remain in Guyana and bring jobs and royalties…workers have a right to a fair wage and the company has a right to receive a fair amount of returns on the investments, but there needs to be a balance between those rights,” said the natural resources minister.

Despite the occurrences over the past month, Trotman said there has been no indication from the company that they want to pull out from Guyana.
The company had said when it resumes it will be looking to take on back all laid off employees once they are willing to return.

“They have an option whether they want to work for us or not; we can’t force anybody to come back. These are people we have, we’ve spent massive amount of money in training. Obviously, if we have to go back and do that all over again, we’ll set ourselves back a long time, so that’s not really desirable,” Nilsson explained.