The opposition PPP today denounced the government’s planned closure of the Wales Sugar Estate and said it will resist the plan.
The PPP press release follows:
PPP condemns closure of Wales Estate
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) condemns government’s decision to close the Wales Sugar Estate. The PPP views this as cold-hearted and a decision taken without any consideration for the livelihoods of the workers, their families and the thousands who depend on the operations of the Estate for a living.
The PPP views this is an assault by the David Granger-led administration on the hard-working and dedicated workers of the Estate who will be plunged into economic hardship as they will be forced onto the breadline. It demonstrates a continued wanton disregard and gross disrespect for sugar workers who, only recently, were denied any bonus which the government paid out to other categories of workers.
With a creeping dictatorship assaulting our fledgling democracy, this ill-advised and unilateral decision to close the Estate was taken with total disregard to its adverse impact on now struggling economy which, despite its stagnation, the government continues to spend lavishly on non-income earning activities.
The announcement of the closure of the Estate, while not surprising, further demonstrates the attempt of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) coalition government to fool the Guyanese people. It was only after their sinister plans were revealed that they denied during the 2015 elections campaign that they will not close any sugar estate.
Our Party had warned before elections of APNU+AFC’s intention to deprive sugar workers of their jobs. As pressure mounted and in their quest to garner votes within the sugar belt, both APNU and the AFC barefacedly told sugar workers that they will not close any estate nor the industry. They even denied privatization, which is now being touted by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) they had set up.
This back-pedaling has again revealed the government’s characteristic of fooling the Nation to advance their own partisan agenda. This characteristic is ingrained in the People’s National Congress (PNC) which has returned under the guise of APNU+AFC.
Our Party is convinced that the closure of the Wales Estate is just the beginning of the Granger Administration’s efforts to shut down the entire sugar industry. More so, we believe that this is part of a scheme to impose hardships on persons who are perceived to be supporters of the PPP as in the case of the current witch-hunt taking place. We believe that the closure of more estates will follow.
The PPP stands in solidarity with all workers, including the sugar workers who will be left jobless by government’s callous action. Further, we urge all Guyanese, including Civil Society, to take note of the government’s actions of abandoning its campaign promises. Closing the Wales Estate cannot in any way provide a good life, as the government boasts it is doing for the sugar workers, their families and those who depend on the industry.
We note that the recently concluded Commission of Inquiry did not recommend closure of estates. The Government is therefore disregarding their own Commission’s findings. Even more significantly, we do not view the Government’s nonsupport of the rice industry which is in crisis and at the same time the closure of sugar estates as mere coincidences . There are veiled and deeply troubling political and other considerations which underpin this approach. We will elaborate on these considerations later on.
Our Party was founded on representing the rights and livelihoods of workers. We will resist this action by the government to prevent the sugar workers being trampled upon.
