By the end of this year, several sugar estates will close its operation, including the Rose Hall Estate in East Canje Berbice where hundreds of sugar workers will need alternative employment.
As such, the Caricom Cement Factory in Bebrice, has disclosed that it will employ over 100 sugar workers as labourers. The News Room was told that the cement company has made major inroads to incorporate local materials to make the cement and several markets have already been secured.
This is according to Director of the company, Shaun Lall, who also revealed that the factory is capable of producing some 600,000 tonnes of cement annually. Meanwhile, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan was also invited to tour the facility on Sunday August 06; he disclosed that he has been approaching large companies to seek alternative employment for those workers who will be affected by the reorganisation of the sugar industry.
“Since we have decided that some of the estates are gonna be merge and we know that is gonna affect employment we wanted alternative employment to be created and I have been asking a number of entrepreneurs and businessmen who are big enough with their investment projects and so on to indicate to me how much employment they can accommodate because of course is a lot of workers, hundreds and probably thousands that would be affected,” the Minister said.
According to Ramjattan, he has been in discussion with the Cement Factory, and they have already indicated their willingness to employ the sugar workers.
“In addition to that they are indicating that they will like to get into rice and some of the lands might have to be converted so it’s all in the process of getting to know and be aware of what the alternatives could be for the sugar industry. We know that sugar doesn’t have a future and I want to start from that basis. What then has a future; definitely cement manufacturing, definitely rice production,” the Minister said.
