What about land for ex-Caroni workers?

Maharaj, in a press release, said Rambharat who once held the portfolio of corporate secretary at Caroni (1975) Ltd is aware of the Retrenchment and Severance Package offered to thousands of ex-workers.

“We wish to remind that on assuming the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, he promised that in a year’s time, this long outstanding issue would be dealt with. To date, thousands of ex-workers are still waiting for their residential and agricultural leases, while subsequent governments have breached a mandatory Court Order handed down in the Deyalsingh Judgement of 2007, and a Consent Order of the Industrial Court of 2003,” Maharaj said.

“There is no doubt no other group has been as unfairly treated in this country as the ex-Caroni workers have,” the union leader said, claiming that almost a quarter of the total number of workers retrenched, when Caroni 1975 Ltd was closed down, have died without having receiving their land and leases.

“We are calling on Minister Rambharat and the Prime Minister to do the right thing and bring an end to the suffering, frustration and misery of this group of people who laboured, sometimes in the worst conditions, to serve our nation, to survive and build a life for their families,” Maharaj said.