Sugar workers with more than 40 years of service awarded

Some 95 sugar workers who worked in the sugar industry and with the Guyana Sugar Corporation for more than 40 years were awarded at a special ceremony on Tuesday morning. This award ceremony comes on the heels of government’s plans to provide more support to the ailing sugar industry which once employed some 16000 Guyanese. The industry is a decades old employer and on Tuesday, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha reiterated the government’s promise to provide more employment with the reopening of sugar estates, “you will know that work has begun to re-open Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore estates,” the minister said, “GuySuCo is more than just the profitability of sugar estates, it is a major provider of community healthcare, drainage services, and welfare facilities, that is why, it must be considered beyond the balance sheet and be seen for the socio-economic entity it is,” the minister pointed out.

There are plans to rehire some 5000, these persons who have been laid off when the estates were closed. The Minister told those gathered that the rehiring process started, “so far more than 750 new jobs have been created in 2020, with plans to employ approximately 3,000 in 2021,” he said. The government has already provided the Corporation with $600 million to cover employment costs and the Minister is promising that the government will continue to “prioritize” the industry 2021.

The last such award ceremony was held in 2001. To date, there are a number of persons with decades of service to the sugar industry, it is estimated that there are 1940 persons with more than 25 years of service.