Living quarters less than desirable for Vaitarna workers

The community centre is just an empty building. Children play on the grounds of the centre during the dry season.

Cramped, tiny cottages that must be shared by up to five people, with leaking roofs, poor electricity supply and intermittent running water are what many Vaitarna employees who reside at the company’s compound at Wineperu are forced to endure.

Employees of Vaitarna Holdings Private Inc (VHPI) were wary of talking to the media for fear of reprisal. Nevertheless, under conditions on anonymity, workers stated that their living quarters were less than desirable and that complaints fell on deaf ears.

This publication was shown rotting ceilings in small cottages that house up to five persons with rooms barely large enough for a single bed in some cases.

Stabroek News was told that when it rained, it would be impossible to identify which part of the roof leaked as water came from all corners.

Workers said that after spending up to four weeks in the backdam it was exhausting to return to the base camp and be greeted with inconsistent electricity and no water.

One employee told Stabroek News that during the day the power was mostly off.