President Irfaan Ali has told the staff of the Morning Glory Inc rice cereal plant in Region Two that they should be able to regain full employment in three weeks.
He was at the time responding to a staff request for full employment.
The staff member, Lalita Samsundar told the President during his visit last week to the Essequibo Coast that it has been two years since the factory has not been working on a full-time basis. This has resulted in many persons not earning a full salary. Samsundar asked the President to assist the factory since many persons’ livelihood had been severely affected since the pandemic.
President Ali told the staff that he is currently working with a client to market the breakfast cereal and in three weeks’ time, the factory should resume operations.
Staff members who attended the meeting were happy to hear what the President said and are looking forward to his intervention.
This newspaper understands that the pandemic has severely hit the factory. The School-Feeding Programme was said to be the largest purchaser of the cereal but since the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with the closure of schools, staff have been asked to stay home. Schools have re-opened on a limited basis.
In November of 2020, Banks DIH Limited, Morning Glory Inc. (MGI) and the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) announced the signing of a distribution agreement which appointed Banks as the exclusive distributor of MGI’s locally produced rice cereals. This deal has however not kept the factory busy.
In October this year, despite the challenges, Morning Glory Inc won the Guyana National Bureau of Standards Quality award for the second time. The company has also recently donated over $1M in cereals to various orphanages and organizations across Guyana.
Morning Glory Inc located at Anna Regina is overseen by IAST. The factory was officially opened in 2017 and employed 30 staff members. However, only 16 staff are currently at the facility.
“We want to get back our job. Since I finished school that is my first job, and I enjoyed working there, as an Essequibian I am proud to be part of the manufacturing process,” a food processing technician said.
The sod of the Anna Regina Cereal Factory was turned by former President Donald Ramotar and the then Minister of Commerce now President Ali in 2015. The plant was constructed at a cost of $100M through the Rural Development Fund. The institute’s acting Director is Deonarine Jagdeo. He took over after Professor Suresh Narine resigned from the position.
