THE Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) will be holding a public meeting this evening at Non Pareil East Coast Demerara on the situation in the sugar industry although it has complained about not being granted permission by the police to hold a march on Tuesday.

The union believes its constitutional right has been breached after the police refused to grant the body and its members permission for the march on Tuesday.
GAWU President Komal Chand told reporters at the union’s headquarters on High Street in Kingston that the union had applied for permission from the police for the activity on April 18th. He said that an application was also made for a public meeting to be held on Thursday, April 27th at Non Pareil and according to him, permission was sought to advertise the meeting during the proposed march on Tuesday.

He said when the union representative visited the Cove and John Police Station on Tuesday he was told that permission was not granted for both events. Chand said he spoke to Divisional Commander, Senior Superintendent Kevin Adonis on Wednesday morning and informed him of the denial of permission. He said that Adonis informed that permission would be granted for the public meeting and the police informed during the day that a written response would be given on a positive note.

Chand said that the union is concerned about the situation. He said that there have been past experiences where workers were denied to assemble and march. “We do not expect a return, to almost three decades of this kind of situation,” he said. He said the union is uncertain if the decision by the police for Tuesday’s event is a “one-off situation”.

On Tuesday, GAWU said the police, in ensuring that their decision was enforced, turned up at the point where the march was scheduled to commence with more than seven armed officers, one of whom filmed the situation on the ground.
The union said a large number of workers and residents who turned out to participate in the march were most upset by the police’s denial and noted that the refusal was tantamount to a denial of their ‘inalienable and constitutional right’, as well as ‘an affront to Freedom of Expression’.

Chand, GAWU General Secretary, Seepaul Narine; Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) President, Carvil Duncan and Treasurer of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Bhagmat Hochand subsequently addressed the sugar workers and residents in a nearby yard.

GAWU said that the truncated march was organised to draw attention to the situation in the industry which workers and residents face, should the authorities go ahead with plans for further closure of sugar estates.

“Our union, while being respectful of the laws of the land, at the same time wishes to register its strongest condemnation at this refusal, “GAWU stated.
The outlook of the sugar industry looks grim. The industry has received criticisms from all levels, including a report which was presented to the Parliamentary Economic Services Committee in January by top officials of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), including Chairman, Clive Thomas and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Errol Hanoman.

Facing a debt in billions of dollars and consecutive losses, officials have advised that the industry is not worth investing in unless it is reorganised, restructured and embrace crop diversification.

Frequent protests and strikes have also compounded the issues faced by GuySuCo.

Earlier this month Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo noted that within the first 20 months of assuming office, the coalition Government has advanced a total of $32B to save the jobs and livelihoods of sugar workers.

The Ministry of Agriculture announced earlier this month that several private sector bodies have expressed interest in management of the sugar industry as it advances its divestment plan, which incorporates dairy and seed paddy production, among others.

Members of the East Berbice Development Association met with and had dialogue with Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, when a number of issues were discussed. Among those is the “freeing up’ of the industry to the private sector, a release from the Agriculture Ministry said.