Bureau of Surveys

(BOS)
24 North Road Lacytown, Georgetown
Email: bureauofsurvey@bos.com
Tel No: 322-3213 Cell No: 643-2313

The Closure of the Whales Sugar Estate

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The Closure of the Wales Sugar Estate

Prepared for:

Ms. Penelope Montfort

Lecturer II

Department of Language & Cultural Studies

Faculty of Education & Humanities

University of Guyana

Turkeyen Campus

Prepared by:

Bureau of Survey

Date: May 22, 2022

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Table of Contents
Title Page ………………………………………………...……. 1

Table of Contents ………………………………………………...……. 2

Letter of Request ………………………………………………...……. 3

Introduction ………………………………………………...……. 4

Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………...……. 5

Statement of Purpose ………………………………………………...……. 6

Background to the Problem ………………………………………………...……. 7 -8

Research Question/Hypothesis ………………………………………………...……. 9

Limitations ………………………………………………...……. 10

Methodology ………………………………………………...……. 11

Research Design ………………………………………………...……. 12

Sampling ………………………………………………...……. 13

Instrumentation ………………………………………………...……. 14

References ………………………………………………...……. 15

Appendices ………………………………………………...……. 15-19

Appendix A. Company Information ………………………………………………...……. 15

Appendix B. Questionnaire ………………………………………………...……. 16-18

Appendix C. Interview Protocols ………………………………………………...……. 19

Appendix D. Gantt Chart ………………………………………………...……. 20

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Bureau of Surveys (BOS)

24 North Road Lacytown, Georgetown
Email: bureauofsurvey@bos.com
Tel No: 322-3213 Cell No: 643-2313

May 10, 2022

University of Guyana,
Turkeyen Campus,
Greater Georgetown,
Guyana.

Problem Statement: The closure of the Wales Sugar Estate has affected the residents of Patentia Housing

Scheme

Penelope Montfort,

The researchers intend to conduct a survey to analyze the various consequences of the closure of the Wales

Sugar Estate on the residents of Patentia Housing Scheme, and to offer solutions to improve the lives of the

residents. As the project manager, I am seeking permission from Miss Montfort, a lecturer in the Faculty of

Literature and Arts to conduct this survey in Patentia Housing Scheme.

We look forward to a positive response to conduct the survey.

Yours Respectfully,

………………………………………….

Project Manager,

Mohamed Saieed Baksh

Tel No. 658-1108

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Introduction

The sudden loss of jobs can cause a profound impact on individuals. For instance, it may even be the

only source of income to some families. The students of the University of Guyana have decided to go along and

investigate the Impact of the Closure of Wales Sugar Estate on the community of Patentia Housing Scheme. We

plan to accomplish this by collecting data from the various households that resides in Patentia. From this, we

plan to analyze it and based on this, if necessary, recommendations will be made toward these findings.
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Statement of Problem

The closure of the Wales Sugar Estate has affected the residents of Patentia Housing Scheme.
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Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the various consequences of the closure of the Wales

Sugar Estate on the residents of Patentia Housing Scheme, and to offer to improve the lives of the residents.
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Background to the Problem

Guyana Chronical Newspaper issued an article on the closure of Wales Sugar Estate, that stated in 2017,

the APNU+AFC government announced the closure of several sugar estates; initially the Wales sugar estate

was named as the first to be closed one year after it was announced for closure. The move by the government

triggered protests led by pro-People's Progressive Party (PPP) leaders in West Demerara and later in the city.

Later several other estates in the Berbice belt were closed and these were also cited as being too costly to run.

The opposition protested the move once more although the government made it clear that annual multi-billion-

dollar bailouts to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) were hurting the economy.

Looking at the years, we could see the increase of capital the estate needed at the same time realizing the

significant drop in production of sugar. The sugar production fell from an average 320,000 tonnes between 2002

and 2004 to below 250,000 tonnes in years before closing. Production plummeted to its lowest level since 1940

in 2003, with only 186,000 tonnes produced. At the same time, the industry's cost of production increased far

faster than the market price for sugar, resulting in losses of more than $50 billion between 2010 and 2014. Then,

in order to rescue the sector, the Bharrat Jagdeo administration stepped up its bailouts. Production expenses

increased by $6.3 billion, or 43 percent, from $14.5 billion in 2010 to $20.5 billion in 2014. To cover these

expenditures, the government was obliged to transfer large sums of taxpayer money to bail out the sector and

avert a collapse that would have ruined the 16,000 or so sugar employees. Guyana's sugar is basically an export

sector, according to the 1996 assessment, but export revenues were not projected to rise beyond that year, but

rather to erode progressively, because the research stated that it could not expand by selling more on the

international market without suffering losses.

Early in 1995, an industry planning exercise predicted that earnings before levies and taxes would fall

by nearly three-quarters in real terms between 1995 and 1999. This was ascribed mostly to "the predicted

downward trend in sugar prices, as well as rising production costs. The same report said, “It faces an urgent
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need to make substantial investments in rehabilitation of factories and to otherwise move toward

competitiveness in world markets, in order to be prepared for possibly more drastic reductions in real prices

after the year 2000.” “All four of these estates are in the Demerara region, while the ones located in the Berbice

region are profitable,” the report stated at the time. The PPP-government subsequently closed the La Bonne

Intention (LBI) and Diamond sugar estates as production costs rose continually over time.

However, since there was no other job opportunity, the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate, greatly

affected the residents of once buzzling community of Patentia Housing Scheme that once relied on the sugar

estate as their main source of income to support their family’s livelihood. Another article, on INews Guyana

that issued an article on The Closure of the Walse sugar Estate, stated that the government did indeed had plans

to have these workers receive their benefits and severance pay. INews understands that in the phasing-out

process the sugar canes at Wales will have to be transported via tractor/trailers to the Uitvlugt factory on the

West Coast of Demerara. The crippled sugar industry would continue to suffer 'blows' as monies would have to

be found to pay for this process as well as to pay workers severance who would no longer be employed at

Wales Estate. Even the operations at the Uitvlugt factory were still facing challenges to cope with this sudden

change, that is, adapting more workers in their labor force and transportation of the sugar cane which increased

the cost of production.

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Research Question

What are the various consequences of the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate on the residents of Patentia

Housing Scheme, and what solutions can be offered to improve the lives of the residents?
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Limitations

The researchers had to spend many hours accumulating material for the background

information because there was minimal information on the problem statement.

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Methodology

Research Design

A mixed method research design will be employed to investigate the various

consequences of the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate on the residents of Patentia Housing

Scheme. A mixed research design is used because the quantitative data can be easily

represented on charts and graph for analysis while the qualitative data will allow the

respondents to express themselves freely.

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Sampling

The sample will include the residents of Patentia. Because the researchers have minimal information on

the residents, systematic random sampling will be utilized to ensure that there is no bias in the selection of

responders. As a result, one hundred (100) households will be asked to respond, and any replies that do not

cross any ethical boundaries will be included in the study. Upon entering Patentia from the north side of the

main road, every alternate house will be used as part of the investigation until we reach our target number of

responses. Using the same method three (3) additional respondents will then be asked to participate in an

interview.
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Instrumentation

Questionnaires will be utilized to collect the quantitative data. There are eight (8) questions, and all of

them are close ended questions, these questions are aimed to show that the respondents were residents of

Patentia prior to the closing of the Wales sugar estate; this is important in establishing whether or not there was

a change after the estate closed. The questionnaires also allow respondents to provide information about their

employment as it relates to the sugar estate, crime rates, and school dropouts.

Interviews will then be conducted to gather qualitative data. A total of five (5) questions will be asked to

three residents and their aim is find out how long the respondents were living at Patentia, what effect did the

closure of the sugar estate have on them and what changes were noticed after the closure of the Estate.
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References

 Macklingam, K. (2016, January 17). Gov’t to close Wales Estate – Hundreds of sugar workers to be placed on

breadline. iNEWS GUYANA. Retrieved from: https://www.inewsguyana.com/govt-to-close-wales-estate-

hundreds-of-sugar-workers-to-be-placed-on-breadline/

 Wales Estate was proposed for closure in 1997. (2019, September 15). GUYANA CHRONICLE . Retrieved

from:

 https://guyanachronicle.com/2019/09/15/wales-estate-was-proposed-for-closure-in-1997/

 Khemraj, T. (2016, January 27). Closure of the Wales Sugar Estate. Stabroek News. Retrieved from:

https://www.stabroeknews.com/2016/01/27/features/closure-wales-sugar-estate/
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Appendices

Appendix A: Company Information

Name of Company: Bureau of Surveys

Motto: Let the People Speak

Contact Information:

Location of Company: 24 North Road, Laceytown, Georgetown

E-mail of Company: bureauofsurvey@bos.com

Website of Company: bureauofsurveys.org.gy

Telephone Number: 322-3213

Cellphone Number: 643-2313

Employees:

Name Job Description

Mohamed Baksh Project Manager

Dwayne DeCosta Senior Field Consultant

Karundatt Manaram Junior Field Manager

Govind Sawh IT Manager

Aleem Khan Data Analyst

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Appendix B: Questionnaire

This questionnaire comprises of nine (9) questions based on the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate. It will be

greatly appreciated if you can take 10 minutes of your time to answer these questions based on how the closure

of the Wales sugar estate affected your community. Please answer Your responses will remain confidential

1. Were you a resident of Patentia before the closure of the sugar estate? (Please tick (✓) the most suitable

answer)

Yes

No

2. What type of family do you live with? (Please tick (✓) the most suitable answer)

Single parent

Nuclear

Extended

Other

3. Were you employed by the Wales Sugar Estate? (Please tick (✓) the most suitable answer)

Yes

No
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4. How many family members from your household were working at the Wales Sugar Estate? (Please tick

(✓) the most suitable answer)

More than 2

5. What was your living situation like after the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate?

Better

Worst

It is the same as before.

6. Were persons who worked at the Wales Sugar Estate able to find another steady job? (Please tick (✓)

the most suitable answer)

Yes

No

7. Other than an employment at the estate, did you or any of your family member lost their livelihood

(market vendor, snackett owner etc.)? (Please tick (✓) the most suitable answer)

Yes

No

If you selected yes, what are they doing now?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
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8. How has the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate affected the residents in your community? (Please tick

(✓) all that applies)

Increased crime rate

Lower standard of living

Increased school drop-out

Others, please state your response below.

________________________________________________________________________
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Appendix C: Interview Protocol

Good afternoon, we would like to ask for a few minutes of your time to participate in a brief interview

that we, the University of Guyana students, are conducting on the impact of the closure of the Wales Sugar

Estate on the residents of the Patentia Housing Scheme, as well as possible solutions to improve your lives. We

would appreciate your honest comment because we are conducting research for an academic paper for the

lecture course Technical Communication (ENG1203).

Interview questions

1. How long were you a resident of Patentia Housing Scheme?

2. Where are you currently employed?

3. How did you benefit from the Wales Sugar Estate?

4. What changes did you notice in the community after the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate?

Thank you for taking the time to take part in this interview.
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Appendix D: Gantt Chart

List of Task Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

Create Company            
 
Election for the job allocation            
Selection of Research problem            
 
Lecturer Checking and Approving Research Problem            
Allocate work for each Department            
 
Member working on task respectively            
Lecturer Checked Progress of Company Work              
Each Department making all necessary changes            
 
Completion of First Draft            
Review of First Draft by Company Members              
Final Touches before Submission