Government is disappointed that Barama Company Limited has publicly stated that an estimated 500 workers will be laid off as a result of the closure of its forestry operations in Guyana, according to Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman.
Referring to Barama’s disclosure as precipitous, Trotman, in a letter published in today’s Sunday Stabroek, said all stakeholders have to work to make the process of change and transition as smooth as possible by “avoiding panic, knee jerk reactions or one-upmanship” tactics.
“Whilst the Government is disappointed by the action of Barama in making statements about workers being laid off even before the relevant entities have met to map the way forward, and is yet unable to find a rational reason why this precipitous action was taken, it will nevertheless continue to provide mature responses, and direction, by engaging all stakeholders objectively and in good faith,” he said.
Trotman added that the government expects that Barama and other stakeholders would likewise be committed to beneficial talks and avoid “brinksmanship,” before moving forward.
General Manager of Barama, Mohindra Chand told Stabroek News on Friday, that in light of the company’s decision to end its forestry operations, the estimated 500 workers were expected to be laid off over the next three months.
Barama announced last Wednesday that it would not be seeking a renewal of its 25-year-old forest concession agreement with government and would be scaling back its operations. This decision, according to Chand, would result in approximately 500 workers being laid off.
Some 180 workers were retrenched by the company earlier this year as a result of what the company said was a drastic market slowdown and waning investor confidence due to government’s protracted review of its concession agreement.
Chand mentioned on Friday that the company is currently in talks with the government and the Guyana Forestry Commission to ensure that all legal requirements are followed. The Department of Labour is also being kept up to date as they move along, he added.
In his letter, Trotman said the various stakeholders will meet in a few days’ time to begin “defining the way forward” for the workers, the company, the forest concession, and the dwellers and users of the concession, including miners. He said he would personally hold meetings with workers at the Barama sites at Land of Canaan and Buck Hall.
Trotman earlier noted that any plan going forward would have to take into account the welfare of the workers and the obligations that Barama had under the now expired forest concession agreement. “Many of these, as can be imagined, cannot be brought to an abrupt end,” he noted.
Will cooperate
In response to Trotman’s letter, Barama Company Limited yesterday said that it had noted the minister’s concerns and wished to state that it would cooperate and comply fully with all requirements to ensure a smooth process.
Barama explained that aside from its official statement of Wednesday, all additional comments were made in response to questions or concerns from the media which the company believes is a key stakeholder.
The company maintained that while its forestry operations will be closed, Barama will continue all other projects in Guyana, inclusive of veneering, plywood manufacturing and sawmilling.
It also reminded that the company had applied in September last year for a renewal of both the company’s Investment and Forest Concession Agreements and continued discussions over the period since.
“Earlier this year Barama, in correspondences with government, had advised government that economic conditions influencing the company’s continuing investment in Guyana’s forest industry were not encouraging. Barama has, as a consequence, now regrettably concluded that it is no longer viable for the company to continue its forestry operations,” it said, while adding that the impact on employment losses started early in the year as a result of prevailing economic conditions.
“The forest closure is just adding to the already existing situation in terms of employment losses,” it added.
As the forest operations wind up over the next three months, Barama committed to working within the parameters of the necessary approvals by government to ensure that all the legal requirements, inclusive of workers’ welfare, are properly addressed.
“We will continue to work with all relevant parties and to remain compliant. Any other claims or assertions remain unclear to us,” it further said. “The company looks forward to engaging with government to explore the continuation of its other operations to sustain our value-added and job creation potential in Guyana and to determine a new Investment Agreement. With the proper closure of the forest operations we would like to focus our attention and energies towards this goal.”
Creating good jobs
Meanwhile, out of concern for the future of the workers, General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress Lincoln Lewis is calling for the creation of jobs in a variety of fields.
“The loss of jobs places people in difficult circumstances and it’s unfortunate that this has to happen. We can’t, however, demand of an employer than they continue to operate; all we can do is ensure that the workers are given the benefits they are due and would’ve earned over years of employment. We have to ensure that they are compensated for the loss of their jobs,” Lewis said.
He explained that while the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union, was aware that workers would be laid off, it was not aware of how many; rather, it had been told only of the categories of workers that would be retained.
“The law requires that the union be informed of how many workers are to be affected by a retrenchment but while Barama has told us which category of workers they will be keeping we did not know the number of workers who would be laid off until today’s story. The workers who will not be retained are those working in the forests as those operations will be phased out,” he said.
Lewis further explained that in the long term these developments will require a meeting of minds.
“This is not the time to speak only of training persons to take up employment in certain fields, persons must have the choice to be employed in fields which will utilise skills they already have. As a nation we need to create good jobs people will want to take up,” he stressed.
