THE decision by the government to reach out to the 274 workers laid off by Barama Company Limited is a most welcome and commendable move. Barama is a private company and it decided to send home the workers after its plywood operations were halted because of a recent accident.
The government had no obligation to intervene but it has, announcing an assistance package and again showing its concern for the plight of the working people, rooted as it is in the working class.
Putting almost 300 people, most of them single working mothers, on the breadline, would have been an awful plight for the families, especially with the Christmas season that’s almost here.
While the stipend of $25,000, announced by President Bharrat Jagdeo when he met the affected workers Monday, is not a large sum, it will help to alleviate the suffering of the workers and their families.
If the government could have afforded a larger sum, it surely would have done so.
But, the important point is the fact that the government has not ignored the plight of the workers, as is the case even in wealthy countries.
Outlining the transitional assistance, the President stressed that the government was not “giving out free money.”
“We have to enter into a deal today. For the next three months you will get $25,000 a month as a stipend from the government. In exchange, you will also have to go one day per week to learn computers. Every single person…I want everyone to learn computer skills…only if you attend the classes will you get the money,” he said.
In addition, the President announced a longer term solution of exploring the possibility of fitting the workers in other companies — private and public.
This should be a viable plan because most of the laid off workers should have a skill and many companies are short of skilled labour.
Some could be placed in the sugar industry which needs skilled labour on some locations.
Many people will also welcome the President’s frankness on two other extremely pertinent issues – Barama’s extending the period of resumption of its plywood operations from 12 to 20 months and the duty free and tax concessions it has long enjoyed.
The President rightly warned that the concessions could be at stake if the company does not resume its plywood operations. It is strange that the time frame for resumption has been shifted from 12 to 20 months and the company needs to provide a sound explanation for this.
Referring to what he called an apparent “shifting timetable” by Barama, he said “we have a sneaking suspicion that there is no sense of urgency to resume operations.”
“Well, let me make it clear…let me make it extremely clear, that if Barama thinks that they will just be cutting wood in Guyana and exporting that wood and not resume the plywood operations, they have another think coming,” the President declared.
The company should realise that it has a responsibility to this country because it is using its natural resources.
Very importantly too, is the fact that apart from employment, plywood production is vital for a booming construction industry, including the government’s aggressive housing development across the country.
Barama cannot hold this country to ransom. National development and progress must take priority and whatever measures are needed to ensure this must be vigorously pursued.