Sugar severance has sucked funds from other programmes

President David Granger addressing residents of Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice yesterday. (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

President David Granger yesterday told East Bank Berbice villagers that payment of severance to thousands of ex sugar workers is drawing funding away from services.

Granger yesterday at a community meeting held at Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice told those gathered, that his government went into office with a lot of bright hope in May, 2015, but that over the last three years they had had to spend over $32B to bail out the country’s sugar industry. However, the President said, “I’m not blaming the corporation, I’m not blaming the workers, I’m not even blaming the previous administration”.

He noted that a decision was made to have only three major estates in operation “and maintain as many workers as possible in those three big estates but right now the government is haemorrhaging with the payment we have to make and that haemorrhaging has sucked funds from other services”, he said.