House Speaker denies PPP/C request for debate on Wales estate’s closure

Komal Chand

Speaker of the National Assembly Barton Scotland yesterday ruled against a request by opposition Member of Parliament and trade unionist Komal Chand for an urgent debate on government’s decision to close the Wales sugar estate.

In keeping with Standing Order 12 of the National Assembly, Chand, the present head of the main sugar union, Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), asked that the Assembly be adjourned and all business suspended so that the matter of the closure of Wales estate, which he said is of urgent public importance, be debated.

Chand said that the decision will see some 2,000 workers and their families as well as dozens of private cane farmers and thousands who depend on the estate placed on the breadline and will have several ripple effects on