Enmore packaging plant not closed; will be moved to Albion – President Ali

─ new, sustainable jobs will be created

President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Sunday debunked claims that the Enmore Packing Plant is closed.

The claim has been made that the plant was closed to facilitate the agreement between government and Guysons K+B Industries (GKB), to lease the facility to accommodate the modern oil field service centre and manufacturing facility.

President Ali, while recognising that Guyana’s new economy will be driven by manufacturing, made it clear that the packaging plant will not be closed, but will be expanded.

The President was addressing questions posed during a press conference to update the nation on Guyana’s recent participation at the Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in Belize.

“The packaging plant is not closed. The packaging plant, as part of the strategy is going to Berbice, it is moving to Albion which will create new jobs in that area with two extra lines being placed there.”

“So, it is consolidating investments as part of the diversification and integration of the industry itself. So, it is winning on both sides of the coin because it is creating and sustaining new jobs on the East Coast corridor that is critical in us achieving the 50,000-job target and at the same time, creating new jobs in Regions Five and Six,” the President stated.

President Ali said government is catalysing its assets by taking the packaging plant to Berbice. He said the plan is about expanding and sustaining jobs for Guyanese.

The US$35 million being invested by Guysons K+B Industries will see the retaining and training of workers employed at the packaging plant to function at the new facility.

The facility is expected to create some 500 jobs within the next five years.