BY MARSHA MOKOOL
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| Villagers making a bowl of mango chow in the village gazebo. From left Krishna Beekham, Rajendra Chandreka, Retoo Manhbod, Anil Seelochan and Rajendra Persad. |
Indarsingh: No need to shut down company
Nirmal Gayapersad had given 24 years of dedicated service to Caroni (1975) Ltd, but today, the father of seven is struggling to get by on the “remnants” of the retrenchment package he took home following the closure of Caroni in August, 2003.
Gayapersad, a former daily-paid worker from Basta Hall, Couva, is still on the unemployment line, taking up odd jobs here and there—like most of the other villagers.
He has already exhausted half of his VSEP package on feeding, clothing and educating his children, who range between the ages seven and 22.
They all live at home and only the eldest is employed.
Unable to find steady work, Gayapersad sought to improve his skills by taking advantage of the training programmes offered by the Government.
Although he has a six-week certificate in pipe-fitting and fabricating, he claims it has not benefitted him in any way.
“I done throw away that worthless certificate. It’s not valid for employment anywhere. None of those companies recognise it when I go for interviews. It’s the same old story, I don’t qualify for anything,” he complained. Gayapersad was one of several who aired their complaints when Sunday Guardian revisited the small, impoverished village last week.
Basta Hall, home to over 1,000 former Caroni workers, has been stuck in a time-warp since our last visit with residents in October, 2003.
The old-fashioned, tight-knit community of approximately 1,700 remains in a state of chronic depression, having depended on the sugar cane industry for generations.
Their withered hopes and dreams can also be compared to the 300 acres of abandoned cane fields which mark their territory and heritage.
Unemployment figures have remained consistent, with less than 50 per cent of the adult population gainfully employed in construction jobs, plying taxis or keeping shop.
Most of the retrenched workers have already exhausted most of their VSEP money, with most of it having gone toward house renovations and loan payments.
More than half of the retrenched Caroni workers are over 50, making it even more difficult to find jobs. There are five to seven children in almost every household, creating an even larger burden on unemployed parents.
Many of the youth lack education and training and still live at home, like Gayapersad’s children.
Every word and sentiment shared by the retrenched Caroni workers at Basta Hall echoed with anger, directed at the former Agriculture Minister and the PNM administration.
Nithram Ramdath, 57, an unemployed father of two, took home $189,000 after 27 years as a daily-paid worker with Caroni, but $80,000 of that went toward the reconstruction of his dilapidated two-bedroom house.
“After paying off loans, all I’m left with is enough to buy groceries,” he complained.
Although crime is practically non-existent in the quiet, traditional village, Ramdath fears that things will get worse as a result of unemployment.
“Things are getting worse because the people are not employed. When you hear the people money run low, what you expect them to do, not tief?” he said.
John Rahael:-
Health Minister John Rahael has absolutely no regrets in the crucial role he played in Government’s decision to shut down Caroni (1975) Ltd and send home 9,000 workers.
Rahael was Agriculture Minister when the decision was taken to shut down the State-owned agro-industrial company in August, 2003.
In an interview last week at the Park and Edward Streets office of the Ministry of Health, Rahael spoke about the closure of Caroni.
Financial and Economical issues
In March, 2002, Rahael said Caroni (1975) Ltd approached him for additional funds because the company had exhausted the entire budget allocated to it by then. It needed approximately $270 million in addition to the $108 million allocated in the 2001-2002 budget.
“If we did not close down Caroni the Treasury would have had to find an additional $650 million to keep operations going... and every year that figure was growing,” he said.
“Caroni had 77,000 acres of land in assets, but instead of producing a revenue, it was a drain on all the treasuries.
“Everyone recognised that things could not continue as it was. It was like a bottomless pit. Every year the loses kept increasing more and more.”
UNC would have done worst
“The closure of Caroni was never a political issue. It had to be dealt with by whichever administration was in power,“ Rahael said.
“UNC had intentions of shutting down Caroni because they, too, recognised that the company was literally draining the Treasury.
“The Opposition was going to do worst than what we did. Workers would not have benefited financially or otherwise if the ball was in their (UNC) court.”
Benefits reaped by former Caroni workers
The decision to shut down Caroni was not an impulsive one, nor was it based on pure economics.
“A lot of time, thought and consideration went into the restructuring of Caroni. There was nothing more that we could have done for the workers. All measures were taken to soften the landing,” Rahael said.
“In addition to enhancing the retrenchment package by 30 per cent, they (former Caroni workers) were given training and business opportunities, plus opportunities to own land and housing.
“Which other employee in T&T has been given that kind of package?
“If there was any bias, it was bias for them (Caroni workers), not against them.”
Land distribution to former Caroni workers:
On the contentious issue of land and houses promised to former Caroni workers, Rahael lamented that the process was taking longer than expected.
After the closure of Caroni, Rahael said those who were interested in agriculture would be given first preference for land. To date, none of the 5,000 to 7,000 applicants who applied to the Estate Management Business Development Company have been awarded land.
In addition, former Caroni workers were to be given first preference to purchase land and houses for their families, but to date, none of the 12,000 applicants have been satisfied.
Asked about Government’s failure to make good on its promises, Rahael only line of defence was “these things take time.”
Union’s Views
President of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers’ Trade Union Rudranath Indarsingh has maintained that the whole issue of Caroni Ltd was based on political discrimination.
“The closure of Caroni was a deliberate ploy to keep sugar workers in a state of poverty and helplessness. Their (Government’s) policy position was to ensure the sugar workers become unemployed and stay that way,” he said.
He complained that former sugar workers can no longer afford to send their children to university because the majority of them are unemployed.
“It has always been the pride of sugar workers to ensure their children be educated. Now that has been taken away from a large percentage of Indians in South and Central Trinidad,” he lamented.
Failure to deliver on promises
“Who is Rahael to say that Caroni workers benefited from the best policy ever introduced for workers in T&T?
Have they delivered on any of these promises?
“It vindicates the union’s position that the Government was not interested in the improvement of life or sociological position of Caroni workers,” he said.
On the issue of land, he argued that no linkages were put in place to facilitate the proper and timely distribution of agricultural and residential land to retrenched Caroni workers.
“We suggested that the restructuring of Caroni be done on a five to seven-year basis so that a proper process would be put in place for the distribution of agricultural and residential land,” he said.
Training programmes futile
In relation to training programmes for former Caroni workers, Indarsingh indicated: “There has been no proper analysis of the skills bank of workers. How could they come up with training programmes without examination of workers’ needs?”
He also said that the question of accreditation standards was never taken into account.
“There is no link between the courses being offered and the wider economy in terms of re-employment for ex-Caroni workers,” he added.
Bad politics :-
Although he agreed that Caroni Ltd could not continue the way it was operating, Indarsingh argued that there was no need to shut down the State enterprise.
“They shut down Caroni, but they pumping money into CEPEP, URP, BWIA and other State enterprises, none of which is generating any positive rate of return to the Treasury,” he said.
“The only policy position we had was phased private sector participation. That is 51 per cent Government and 49 per cent private sector.”
He admitted that part of the restructuring exercise would have included the retrenchment of older workers, but he argued that neither the union nor the UNC ever had intentions of shutting down Caroni Ltd.
“The proposal to shut down Caroni was never formally accepted by the UNC,” he said.
He also agreed with Rahael that the Caroni administration was corrupted.
“The union has always said the Caroni administration was corrupt in terms of poor management and the misappropriation of funds,” he said.
“There was need to reduce the dependency on the Treasury. This is why we advocated the establishment of a holding company and a number of separate entities to manage the various facets of rice, sugar, rum, citrus, dairy, refining operations and field engineering.”
