– At the 77th commemoration of the Enmore Martyrs
President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has pledged to restore Guyana’s sugar industry to strength, declaring it ’will be great again” under his leadership, with sugar workers placed at the heart of the sector’s transformation.
Speaking at the 77th anniversary of the Enmore Martyrs on Monday, President Ali told a packed gathering that the industry would not be left to collapse. Instead, it would be rebuilt, with workers having a stake in its future.
“What we inherited was broken. But today it is being rebuilt under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic. And make no mistake, we will make sugar great again,” he said.
Since taking office in 2020, the PPP/C administration has injected over $40 billion into the sugar industry and re-employed more than 4,500 people.
Another 3,000 hectares of land are set to be mechanized by 2025, with $13.5 billion allocated in the 2025 national budget for Guyana Sugar Corporation (CuySuCo).
Laying out a broader revitalization plan, President Ali said the government is working with unions to give workers an ownership stake in the sector’s modernization.
“We have already said to the unions: we want to sit down with you and discuss how the workers can be owners of this mechanization process…how we can make the workload lighter for the workers; how can we make the conditions of work better by allowing the workers to be owners in the plantation and to be part of the revival and ownership of sugar in Guyana.”
Sugar estates are being repositioned as engines of rural economic development. Alongside sugar, the government aims to introduce high-value crops, agro-processing and skills training.
“We don’t only want the sugar workers to rely on their income from sugar. We want to convert acreage of land into a high-yielding production, high-value production – production that is owned by the workers,” he said, noting that Enmore is positioned to become an industrial hub.
The president also referred to the previous APNU+AFC government’s closure of several estates, describing the move as a “gamble” with the livelihoods of hard working Guyanese.
“Let us not take the wins of the last four years for granted; let us not take the progress for granted [because] it took relentless work,” he said, pointing to ongoing improvements in salaries, cash grants, and other support for communities.
Monday’s ceremony honoured the memory of Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surajballi, and Harry, five sugar workers who were killed during a protest June 16, 1948 after demanding better wages and union representation.
They were shot by colonial police during a peaceful picket, an event that galvanized labour movements across the country.
President Ali reminded his audience that these men were not politicians, but ordinary workers who gave their lives for the rights that others enjoy today.
“Let no one dare tell you that sugar is a relic,” he said. “Because they would not only be wrong; they would be dangerously mistaken. Sugar is still vital, especially to the rural economy.”
Also addressing the ceremony, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Seepaul Narine, credited President Ali for his “deep commitment to the working class” and criticized the previous administration’s unfulfilled promises of diversification and compensation.
General Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) General Secretary Dawshan Nagasar added that the martyrs’ legacy is felt not only through commemorations but in the labour protections workers benefit from today.
“As we remember the past,” he said, “Guyanese must also acknowledge the remarkable transformation unfolding in Guyana today.”
Among those in attendance were Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips; Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony; Minister of Education Priya Manickchand; Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr, and other dignitaries including members of the diplomatic corps were also present.
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