COVID-19 has taken a huge human and financial toll on the world. Here in Guyana, the Government reports approx. 156 cases (as of June 10) though there are concerns about unreported cases (and under-testing in some communities).
The Government introduced a strict lockdown, including a 6pm-6am curfew and a ban on gatherings of six or more people. There are reduced ferry services, including those that run from Parika-Supenaam (the gateway to the Pomeroon).
In addition to complying with all government regulations, we as a company have introduced the following procedures:
Stricter lockdown of movement on/off the farm with improved sanitary facilities: we set up hand-washing stations, disinfectant areas, tighter visitor logs, fewer trips off-farm and new accommodation for workers that wish to remain on site. All staff are provided with masks and we ran company-wide training sessions on best-practice
Ban on non-essential travel: this was implemented before the government-mandated lockdown, and applies to all employees (Guyana and International)
A safe job for all employees: we remain committed to providing a safe and stable workplace for all employees (and, where applicable, their families). We have avoided job cuts and furloughs and anticipate increasing our workforce this summer
We are fortunate that COVID-19 has not significantly affected either our business operations or the livelihoods of our employees. Exports have continued as per normal - indeed, we have seen a steady growth in revenues due to increased domestic sales.
In addition to the human toll, COVID-19 has exposed the Caribbean’s food security challenges:
Over-reliance on tourism: As tourism dries up, the region’s currencies are negatively affected, in turn reducing financial reserves and making it harder to import food
Over-reliance on the US: North America has drastically cut exports to the Caribbean (due to labour constraints and domestic food security concerns), leading to empty shelves in stores for Caribbean consumers
Challenges of globalisation: complex and fragile logistics networks are under pressure (or totally closed due to quarantines), leading to longer delays at customs, fewer shipping routes and more expensive cross-border transactions
“With COVID-19, the Caribbean’s over reliance on food imports from the United States is no longer just a crisis of food security; it is a crisis of national and regional security”