CRIMINALITY in the youthful population hardly escapes attention and the apologists for their destructive, thieving, sometimes murderous forays often cite poverty as the causative factor for the evil they perpetrate on society. Attorney Sase Gunraj recently posted a picture of a young final-year law student with a tray of pizzas that he was selling to fund his education.
The Gafsons Group of Companies traditionally hosts its annual dinner to honour long-serving employees in December each year. In an era where staff turnover is a critical concern of most companies, because there is a dearth of skilled and efficient human resources, Sattaur Gafoor and his family are on these occasions surrounded by employees who have served them for as long as 45 years.

Many of the awardees joined the group from their teenage years, worked diligently and were trained to optimise their skills until, after honing those skills, they have reached managerial positions where they contribute to policy decisions of the company. What is more, they are treated more as family members than employees, and they encompass every ethnic and religious configuration.

What stands out on these occasions is the fact that there is never any discrimination in the awards, in that the Gafoor home-help, or gardener, or driver, if meritorious is awarded in tandem with its managerial and other staff members. Also, the line-up of most depended-on staff members, honoured as such by chairman of the group, are mostly young people and females. The highest-ranking staffer, second to Mr. Gafoor, is a young female, as is the company’s accountant.

On these occasions the scion of the Gafoor family, Omar Gafoor, along with his family, joins his parents at the head table. The younger Gafoor, who took over the reins of and expanded the group’s CARICOM holdings, once brought the house down when he related an incident that is an indication of the discipline, sacrifices and hard work that made the Gafoor achievements so superlative – he was suspended by his father for a week because he took a Sunday off the job.

Most of Guyana’s billionaires started from humble beginnings but, by dint of hard work, unremitting efforts, and great sacrifices they have reached the zenith of enterprise and industry. Notable among them are the Gafoors, Toolsie Persaud, Edward Beharry, John Fernandes, Bish Panday, Peter D’Aguiar, Kayman Sankar, Johnny Kowlessar, Kamal Kanhai – all legendary figures in Guyana’s entrepreneurial world.

Like Sattaur Gafoor, who did not own a pair of shoes until he was 11-years-old and either did not acqire a formal education; or acquired their formal education in difficult ways (Mr. Gafoor attained formal education to Higher Senior Cambridge), most of these men evolved from an ethos where they could not approach banks for loans and had to scrimp and save to accumulate seed capital, gradually re-investing in their portfolios until they themselves cannot estimate their true worth; so great is their success.
Today, when the education sector offers ample opportunities – including skills training for school drop-outs — various organisations, including the Gafoor-chaired Small Business Development Fund, offer low-interest loans for budding businesses, as well as grant-aid for vulnerable groups, there is a proliferation of criminals who claim poverty, marginalisation and lack of opportunities for upward mobility, using these false claims to excuse their predatory actions and criminal, even murderous tendencies.
However, the giants of industry have proven that anyone can achieve, because they walked the hard roads to reach their ultimate destination and, subsequent to their success, provided the requisite opportunities through job-creation via their wealth-creational endeavours; and they facilitate the upward mobility of those who are willing to stay the course.
They are also social benefactors in a multiplicity of ways; and Director of Gafsons, Mrs. Ameena Gafoor, in thanking the Gafsons’ employees, once mentioned some of the beneficiaries – so many that would fill volumes, except that she named only a few institutions — that their hard work has helped to provide assistance to.
Guyana’s industrial and manufacturing sectors constitute the engine of growth for individuals, families, communities and the nation at large; and they are the job-creators of the nation. Only by dint of much personal effort and sacrifice were these companies established.