Redundant sugar workers to receive half severance by month-end

Government is estimating that severance pay for redundant sugar workers will be in excess of $4B.

By this month-end, half of the severance pay to about 4,000 workers will be ready. The rest will be paid by the second half of the year. The disclosures were made yesterday by President David Granger in a message read to the National Assembly by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. The message pertained to the payment of workers of the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). President Granger’s statement followed Tuesday’s protests in East Berbice by laid-off workers of Rose Hall estate. According to the Head of State, it is estimated that at least $2B will be needed to make the first half of the severance this month-end. In the statement, the President said that GuySuCo has been in a state of crisis for over 25 years. “The Government has acted resolutely and responsibly to protect the livelihood of workers, to preserve the viability of rural communities and prevent the further financial depletion of the country’s treasury,” he insisted. Granger pointed out that the Government, including the previous administrations, struggled to maintain the industry’s viability. Some of the actions included engaging international advisory, technical and managerial corporations including Booker-Tate Ltd, Bosch Projects (PTY) and Global Cane Sugar between 1992 and 2015.

The Bharrat Jagdeo administration even erected a new factory at Skeldon in the East Berbice-Corentyne region at a cost of US$121M. Since 2011, some $48.02B in financial support was expended to the industry with $32B paid over the past 30 months. This translated to about $1B per month. (Kaieteur News)