Addressing workers at the Kwakwani operations of the Berbice Mining Company, (BERMINE), last week, Mr. Hinds noted that even though people and companies would want to continue in jobs and operations forever, circumstances cause otherwise.

But even in such crises, situations turn out better in some cases, he said.

He said big foreign companies like ALCAN and REYNOLDS, also had to trim operations and staff "in the areas where they are not making profits...and extended themselves where they are doing better."

"I think we could be as successful as (they) have, once we do not allow our shoulders to drop", Mr. Hinds encouraged.

He said that as responsible adults everyone should "be prepared to carry (one's) load too and not just see those who have let us down".

Explaining the reality of the situation, he said it was a sombre occasion and not one of rejoicing as there is great anxiety about the future of the workers.

He said that it is a sobering realisation for anyone who has "been going to a job every day (to come to grips with) not doing so any more".

In this way, he said, "we are spared the thought about making a living".

This he compared with a farmer who has to depend on other conditions, to know whether or not he would reap a crop to either sell or keep for his family's use.

But "this is the same thing that happens in larger companies, even though we are not aware of it", the Prime Minister said.

For this reason, he added that the Government has put arrangements in place to take care of the decision to merge the operations of BERMINE with Aroaima Bauxite Company (ABC) on the one hand, and the Linden Mining Company (LINMINE) with Cambior, the parent company of Omai Gold Mines Limited on the other.

The Acting President added that for "a meeting such as this, it needed for me to be present. Because it is times like these, testing times, that we need more assurance that we are all together as a country and as a nation. And therefore the President and myself have been giving attention to this issue (as a priority)."

The option to merge BERMINE with ABC, Mr. Hinds said, was to keep BERMINE "for six months to a year, greatly downsized and keep the same rate of payment basically. This keeps your cost down but we thought it may be better to go this way and see how it works."

He added that this step is the better way to get a "break-even situation, long-term, but it is still a challenge. And it requires the efforts of all people in it to do their best, that things go the best way they could."

He urged workers in both Everton and Kwakwani locations to look for new opportunities to make a living individually and even on a larger scale.

He cited an example where someone had mentioned to him that a group of persons (about 20) could get into farming intensely to supply nearly all the vegetables and crops needs in the area of Kwakwani.

In Everton, workers pointed out to the Acting President that the resources, which are at present out of use, could be utilised generally in other work in the area, and that this was done to some extent but was never pursued on its own.

These resources include the machine and electrical shops, the tug and barge repair and the Lake Mapper facility. All of these have possibilities to become economic ventures, they said.

Mr. Hinds was accompanied on his two-day visit by Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Mr. Robeson Benn and Head of the Privatisation Unit Mr. Winston Brassington.

He also visited the Unamco Industries Limited Sawmill.

He also brought workers from Aroaima up to date with the impending merger with BERMINE.