By Richard Morais, Freelance WriterFALMOUTH, Trelawny:
THEY STOOD dazed, some attempting to put on a brave face, but failing to create the desired effect because, as of today, they will be without a job.
This was the scene yesterday at Hampden Sugar Factory, Trelaw-ny, as workers went to collect their 14 weeks' pay in lieu of notice.
About 200 workers will lose their jobs at the factory, as it closes it doors. A letter accompanying the cheques informed them that their jobs were being made redundant from today. It stated that they were being given the equivalent of 14 weeks' pay in lieu of notice. The rest of their redundancy payment should be made by January 31. The total payments will amount to some $66 million.
Those with company cars have to park them, immediately. Those living on the estate's property will have to vacate these buildings, although no time was given for this.
"This is a betrayal of the worker," Lester Smith, chief union delegate of the University and Allied Workers' Union (UAWU), said. He said the factory could have been made viable if they had been given the basics on time.
For the last 10 years, nothing of significance was done to the factory, he said, and he was finding it hard to believe the figures being bandied about as sums of money given to the factory.
"If one piece (of equipment) was changed every year, we would have a new factory by now," he said. He blamed the low production (5,000 tonnes of sugar) last crop and the late start, April, instead of January.
He charged the company with mismanaging the factory, singling out an instance in which, he said, the irrigation system from the factory was lent to another factory, while its canes were dying.
George Fray, vice-president of the Hampden Cane Farmers' Association, said, "Long Pond cannot manage the 80,000 tonnes of sugar."
He added that to haul the cane uphill for 25 miles was ridiculous. He said the farmers in his organisation were willing to put up $100 per ton, amounting to $30 million, to help save the factory.
Roger Clarke, Minister of Agriculture, announced last week Tuesday that the Government would close the cash-strapped Hampden Sugar Factory, resulting in the loss of some 200 jobs.
He told Parliament the decision was taken after an assessment team determined that it would not be economically feasible for Government to invest between $370 million and $400 million, the amount required to keep the factory operating at minimum levels of efficiency.
The Minister said the Long Pond factory was being extensively repaired to ensure it was in the best condition possible, before the start of the 2002-2003 crop.
But, the All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers' Association expressed total disagreement with the decision and termed it "a serious betrayal of trust."
