THE recent statements by the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, regarding the future of GUYSUCO under a potential APNU-led administration, are not just hollow, they are an insult to the intelligence and memory of every sugar worker and their families who bore the brunt of reckless political decisions less than a decade ago.

Between 2015 and 2020, it was the APNU/AFC Government, which Mr. Norton now fronts, that callously shuttered the Rose Hall, Skeldon, Wales, and Enmore sugar estates, throwing more than 7,500 sugar workers onto the breadline.
These closures were not a mere economic adjustment, they were a social catastrophe that devastated entire communities whose livelihoods, histories, and futures were deeply tied to the sugar industry.

This was not done in ignorance. A Commission of Inquiry, commissioned by the coalition themselves, explicitly warned against shutting down the estates. It detailed the ripple effects these closures would unleash: mass unemployment, loss of income, deepening poverty, and the breakdown of entire communities. Yet the advice was tossed aside.
Worse still, the cruelty did not stop at unemployment. The same government then refused to pay workers their full severance, forcing thousands of families to fight through the courts for what was rightfully theirs, at a time when they needed that support most.

It was the PPP/C, then in Opposition, that stood firmly with these abandoned workers, mobilising legal action and public pressure until justice was finally served and the severance owed was paid. This is not political spin, this is fact, documented in court rulings and lived in the memories of those who struggled to feed their families while politicians in the coalition called the closures “right-sizing.”

The impact of these callous policies went beyond pay slips. According to the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO), the closures led to increased suicide, crime, and alcohol abuse in affected communities, grim evidence of the deep wounds inflicted on Guyanese families.
Now, standing before the nation, Mr. Norton speaks grandly of transforming GUYSUCO, promising that under his watch no estates will close, that the industry will diversify and modernise. These are nothing but political theatrics, a desperate attempt to rewrite history when the reality is still fresh in the minds of those who suffered.
The truth is that the hard work of rebuilding GUYSUCO has already begun — not under the Opposition’s empty slogans but under the PPP/C Government led by President Dr. Irfaan Ali. The Rose Hall Estate has reopened.

Workers have been re-employed. Investment has flowed into mechanisation, recapitalisation, and sustainable diversification — not as distant promises but as concrete, ongoing programmes with real results.
The sugar industry does not need opportunistic rhetoric from those who failed it. It needs steady leadership, investment, and an unwavering commitment to the dignity of the thousands of families who depend on it.

That leadership is already in place, working daily to restore GUYSUCO to profitability and purpose.
The people of Guyana, especially our sugar workers, have not forgotten who stood with them when they were abandoned.
They know who fought for their severance and who withheld it. They know who closed the gates of the estates and who reopened them.
So, when vague promises come knocking, sugar workers must remember: they do not need a new saviour, they need continued action, honest leadership, and a government that backs its words with results.