DURING the commemoration ceremony for the five Enmore Martyrs: Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surajballi and Harry, General Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Aslim Singh, on Friday, disclosed that the Rose Hall Sugar Estate is expected to reopen later this year.

“Comrades, later this year, we anticipate the opening of the Rose Hall estate,” he said adding that he was informed that operations are to commence during the third quarter of 2023.

The governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), he explained, has invested tremendous amounts to not only rehire the 7,000 sugar workers who were severed under the A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, but also to reopen the sugar estates that were shut down by that administration.

Meanwhile, he used the occasion to emphasise that Guyanese people have made tremendous strides since the 1948 tragedy.

He also related to President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, that GAWU is looking forward to collaborating with the government in order to forge plans that will better the lives of workers, and overall, all Guyanese.

Moreover, while remarking that GAWU wouldn’t be itself without the sugar workers, Singh openly commended them for continuously striving and bettering the industry.

Carvil Duncan, President of The Federation of Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) reflected on how the memorial not only marked the remembrance of those brave heroes, but also illustrates the strides that Guyana has made since the tragedy.

Duncan said: “We as a nation over that period, underwent serious challenges and serious difficulties to reach where we are today,” he said adding that history paves the way for a nation to better themselves.

The FITUG President also commended the government for restoring the livelihoods of thousands of sugar workers and their strong commitment to the industry.

He stressed that the former administrations failed to honour the Enmore Martyrs in the same way the PPP/C does.

On June, 16, 1948, the five sugar workers lost their lives while on strike at Plantation Enmore, East Coast Demerara. They were brutally and senselessly gunned down by Colonial Police.