Rose Hall workers protest closure plans

This morning (Tuesday, April 25, 2017) hundreds of field and factory workers of Rose Hall Estate staged a picketing exercise outside of the Estate’s Administrative Office protesting plans by the Government and Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) to close the Estate.

The workers have noted recent comments by President David Granger who advised that Albion, Blairmont, and Uitvlugt Estates will remain open as an indication that Rose Hall is one slated to be closed.

The workers are staunchly against the closure of the Estate and have pointed to the many grave difficulties that would face them and their families should the closure plans be implemented.

According to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the closure of Rose Hall, should it proceed, “would take a heavy toll on many communities and spawn unwanted social ills which would require huge sums to remedy.” It added that the township of New Amsterdam will also be particularly affected given that sugar workers and their families bring much business there. 

At this time, Rose Hall employs some 2,400 persons and when an account is taken of workers, shop owners, service providers and others, the closure will affect several thousand of ordinary Guyanese.

The GAWU finds it puzzling, indeed disheartening, that such plans are contemplated when other jobs, especially in the East Canje area, are simply unavailable, the union concluded.