Head of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Komal Chand says that mechanisation and manual labour have to go hand-in-hand if the sugar sector is to see a turnaround.
Asked if he believed that mechanisation was successful and about the future for workers if the country continued down this path, Chand told Stabroek News that it was not a black and white story. Chand acknowledged that because the labour force was dwindling and alternative solutions have to be sought, mechanisation was the logical solution at this point. He, however, maintained that both manual and mechanical labour are imperative to the success of the sugar industry. “It is a story where they have to complement each other,” he explained.
According to Chand, the reality of the current situation is that there has been a mass exodus of manual labourers and that the backbreaking work that is cane harvesting is not for everyone. He said there has been a direct move away from the field work and as people are given more
