Just over six months ago the Linden Mining Enterprise (Linmine) severed all of its employees. The ailing company changed hands, as did millions of dollars in redundancy payments. Some of the workers have been rehired by the new company while the others have begun to seek new destinies outside Linden and even out of Guyana.

As Stabroek News learnt recently when it spoke to three of the others who have remained at Linden, redundancy money goes quickly and frustration steps in when there is no ready job alternative. For years, Linden has been classified as a depressed community and the signs of this remain evident.

Lauren Parris, a resident of Retrieve, was thankful for the knowledge and experience she acquired in accountancy at Linmine where she spent 21 years of her working life.

According to Parris this foundation equipped her with the skills, which she now uses to good measure in her current employment as an accountant at the Linden Care Foundation (LCF).

This single mother is one of the few ex-employees of the Linden bauxite operations, who have been able to secure employment in a town where jobs are scarce. However, this by no means restricts Parris's creativity. She has invested in a small craft business, which affords her a small turnover, successfully supplementing her income from this job.

Parris is contracted to the LCF until September and this, along with the craft shop, she says gives her the room she needs to research the market prior to embarking on a larger investment of her redundancy funds, the majority of which she has banked.

Parris began working full time at Linmine as a Grade Three Clerk in the accounts department immediately upon leaving school. She had risen to the position of Grade Eight Clerk/Acting Supervisor by the time she was severed. During her tenure at the company she worked in the various sections of the finance division including payroll, costing and saving. Parris was also the beneficiary of training in accounting systems paid for by Linmine.

But she is not optimistic about the immediate future, especially over the next six months, which she said signs suggested would not be bright. Parris said the impact of the joblessness in the community was devastating, particularly now that persons have to dive into their redundancy payments to pay utility bills, which the bauxite company once serviced.

She said even workers who had been rehired were crying out that they had to perform more tasks at the same pay rates previously enjoyed.

Parris' colleague Gwenneth Wilson has a dismal tale to tell. She has been unable to secure employment and has not been involved in any scheme which generates an income for all of six months.

Wilson finds her situation all the more further depressing, since her grown son who recent completed a course at the technical institute is also competing for employment in the limited job market. However her son's options, unlike hers, are better. He could readily leave the mining community; she has family commitments and must stay put. Foremost among these is her other child, who is about to complete his secondary level education and needs stability.

At the moment, Wilson spends the vast majority of her time occupied in household chores while she considers what would be her best investment option.

"Things not easy. Linden is depressed and businessmen crying," Wilson lamented. This she says sets limits as to what would be a viable venture in which to invest her redundancy money. In the meantime, bills, including rent, are eating into it.

The divorced parent has filled out forms in a resource survey carried out by LINMINE, as well as the Linden Economic Advancement Project (LEAP), through the Guyana Mine and Metal Workers Union (GMMWU).

Wilson was born and bred in Linden. She recalled her zest and optimism when, fresh out of the Mackenzie High School 28 years ago, she joined the staff of the bauxite company as a young apprentice.

Employment at the firm where her father had served, beginning from post- nationalisation days, was a source of great prestige, Wilson recalled. "It was a good place to work in those days."

According to Wilson she never anticipated that a day would come when she would be made redundant, as it had been a secure job, one in which a person could retire.

Looking back at her decision to stay in Linmine's employ, the former Senior Accounts Clerk - the position she occupied prior to the July 2003 mass severance - wondered with hindsight whether she should have considered other opportunities which had come her way.

Over the period of her employment, Wilson rose from Filing Clerk in the finance division and completed several training courses courtesy of Linmine during her period of employment.

Desmond Richards, who spent approximately 30 years in the employ of the bauxite firm was of the view that older workers like himself should have been given a better severance package.

This, he said, was because it is tougher for those 50 and over to obtain ready employment. However this in no way should have hindered anyone from receiving a reasonable package.

Roberts, who currently operates a provision business at the Mackenzie waterfront, said he was fortunate to have something to turn to after being made redundant. He was able to turn full time to his business, which he started while still employed at the bauxite firm after recognising the downward trend in the industry.

According to Roberts, persons should have recognised the way in which the company was heading especially those who were in its employ for a number of years and should have prepared themselves for the current situation. But he still felt departing workers should have been treated better, including getting help in securing homes among other things.

Roberts, a father of eight, moved from the rank of labourer when he first joined the company prior to its nationalisation, to operator of the walking dragline.

He recalled that it was an honour to secure work with the mining entity, as it was one of the big companies in the country at time contributing to the national economy. But things began to slide, he said, and among the signs of this was the use of substitutes to replace wearing parts. This caused frustration among workers as the then management either neglected to listen or overruled the views of some of the workers on the ground who had the know-how, Roberts said.