The Government of Guyana (GoG) distributed $250,000 one-off grants to 5,263 severed sugar workers, amounting to over $1.3B, over the last weekend. According to the Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha the disbursement effectively “corrected the wrongs” committed on sugar workers by the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC).
The former government opted to shutter several estates across the country between 2015 and 2020. The regime had noted that production costs far exceed the sale of the commodity, resulting in billions of dollars in bailout annually.
The Minister also revealed that $2.3B was disbursed for out of crop support. In defending this expenditure, Mustapha said that the unforeseen flooding that took place between May and August this year necessitated the resort to the contingency fund. He said that monies were disbursed to offset various expenses including wages, fuel, and lubricants.
Mustapha noted that the grant to sugar workers as mere compensation for the debilitating effects that were triggered by the shutting down of the estates. Village economies, suicide, and hardships ensued the closures, and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) promised during its March 2020 Elections campaign to bring relief to those workers.
Asked what criteria was used to determine that figure of $250,000, Mustapha said that the government relied on an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report and the social ills that existed in those communities.
He noted that approximately 1,200 workers were reemployed by the current PPP/C government. He added that “no amount of money can compensate these workers for the damages done”, but the government will create jobs for the over 30,000 who were displaced by the closures.
