– urged to use $250,000 cash grant wisely
TWO brothers who lost their jobs at the Wales Sugar Estate following its closure are grateful for the $250, 000 cash grant, which will help fund home-improvement projects and make the festive season enjoyable for their families.
The Guyana Chronicle recently spoke with the duo who recounted the hardships they have encountered as a result of being out of a job.
“That day when I heard the estate close down, there was [sic] tears in me eyes and in me heart,” 40-year- old Hussein Bacchus reminisced as he painted the verandah at his Vriesland, West Bank Demerara home.
Bacchus was among the 2,000 workers who were laid off when the Wales Sugar Estate closed its doors in December 2016. Bacchus, who had worked 16 years at the estate as a cane-cutter, said he is now struggling to provide for his family, which includes his mother, wife and daughter.
However, this year Bacchus is looking forward to a brighter Christmas thanks to the $250,000 cash grant that is being disbursed by the government to those from Wales and two other estates which were closed by the previous government.
“It’s good what the government do. We’re glad for it because we were out of job and them thing. I just sell bird seed and that can’t really maintain me and my family,” he said.
It was early October that Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that sugar workers who lost their jobs when the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration closed several sugar estates, will each receive $250,000 from the government. Approximately 7,500 workers had been severed as a result of the closures.
The government began the pay out earlier this month, just in time for the struggling workers to enjoy the Christmas season.
With little disposable income since 2016, Bacchus will be using some of the money to do some improvements on his home and to enjoy a better Christmas. He urged those who have also received the money to be cognizant that it can only do a little, hence the need for them to ensure that they spend or invest it wisely.
“They must put it to good use. They mustn’t drink or smoke it out,” he emphasised.
When the estate was closed, Bacchus started selling bird seeds as a means of getting an income. However, this was not sufficient and this led to him struggling financially to make ends meet.
“It wasn’t easy, but you still have to give God thanks and praise and cope with the little that come and see what you can do with it. You can’t give up,” he said.
Bacchus added: “That was a big impact not only on my life alone, was about 2000 workers and that was bad for us. We go through a struggle and onto now we in the struggle, hoping for jobs because right now we don’t have jobs.”
The closure of the Wales Estate had a harsh impact on the economic and social landscape of many communities on the West Demerara, affecting not only the laid-off workers, but also businesses.
Bacchus told the Guyana Chronicle that though the cash grant may seem like a lot, given the struggles that many of the severed workers are facing, the money will give them only a little breathing room for a short time.
“Me alone working in my home and I have my mother and my wife and my daughter to send to school. With the money we got to pay bills, buy ration, and do other things. Can’t wild it out and waste it; we have to put it in use,” he said.
As he spoke, he smiled in anticipation of a brighter Christmas this year.
GRATEFUL
Living next door to Bacchus is his brother, Hasser, whose household was particularly hard hit by the closure of the estate. Both himself and one of his sons were working there at the time. He shared that due to the estate’s closure and the lack of finances, one of his sons was unable to write his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams. In addition to being unable to provide for his family, it was painful to see his child’s education disrupted.
“Up to Form Five [Grade 11] he go school, but I hadn’t the money [to pay for the CSEC subjects]. I go all about and ask all body to help me, beg everybody. This boy had to come out of school without writing CXC. If we had the estate, I would’ve get [sic] the money plus his [older] brother used to back up because he had a regular work. Nobody didn’t helping me out to get it, that’s why he didn’t get to complete school,” he said.
The 50-year-old, who is a father of five, had worked at the estate for 28 years as a cane-cutter. Like his younger brother, he too has since found work selling bird seeds.
“I only sell two days this week. I does only afford to pay the bills and buy lil goods, so the $250,000 really come in to help with that, so I thank God for that,” he says
He is also taking some of the cash grant to do work on his home. He said he is profusely grateful for the financial assistance the money brings.
“I thank God for it because after the estate close down, all I do is pick bird seed. I have two sons [who are old enough to work] them not really getting regular work. It was lil rough but thank God we still bearing and the little that we get we still make much with it. The $250,000 is alright. I thank God for it. It’s the $250,000 that I’m spending here to do some work,” he said.
Hasser added that he and the rest of the community are anxiously awaiting the proposed projects coming to the Wales area.
With the closure of the estate, many persons in the community would have had to take up jobs in the city or farther away. High transportation costs are eating into their salaries and the burden of dealing with the long travelling has taken a toll on them mentally.
“A lot of people would be grateful to be working in the area again. Because a lot of people working in Georgetown, but the passage [transportation fare] too much for them. You leaving 6 o’clock in the morning then you now done work 4 o’clock and with the traffic, you reaching home til 6 – 7 o’clock. So it does rough,” he noted.
