Approximately 2,740 severed Berbice sugar workers were yesterday given a one off cash grant to the total tune of $685 million based on a promise made by the current government while in opposition after the closure of the sugar estates by the APNU+AFC.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha yesterday told Stabroek News that 1,830 workers from the Skeldon estate were given the $250,000 cash grant, while 910 laid-off workers from the Rose Hall estate were slated to receive their grant.
At the two locations in Berbice yesterday, the hundreds of sugar workers gathered, all “excited” to receive their grant, which some said they planned to use to invest in a small business, and to save for “hard times.”
