FROM MUSICAL CHAIRS TO SOLITAIRE

Oct 12, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

According to reports, moves are afoot by the PPP administration to finally end the management contract to the Booker-Tate grouping in the sugar industry.

Whenever you hear talk about performance reviews, about inviting consultants to conduct these reviews, you just know that the axe is about to fall on someone’s head.

First it was the Minister of Agriculture making statements about his displeasure about developments in the industry.

Then the President expressed his displeasure also at the constant downgrading of the sugar targets of this year. Now we are learning about moves to change the management structure at Skeldon and about the possibility of the appointment of a Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

There is most likely going to be a shake-up of the management of GuySuCo, a PPP-styled shakeup which means that we will be treated to a theatre of the incredulous in the next couple of months.

The government as usual is going about doing things in backward manner. Instead of waiting on the reports of the two consultants whose terms of references have been developed, there are already hints that there will be a revision of the existing management.

I am baffled by this need to create a Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Who does this person report to? No doubt he or she will report to the Chief Executive Officer and thus what we will have is a one-to-one reporting arrangement, something that is unheard of in managing such a large industry as sugar.

Whatever the merits of such a position, it is hoped that it does not follow the example set a short while ago when a certain ministry created a Deputy Permanent Secretary position, advertised the post and found that the most suitable candidate was a relative of a top PPP leader.

I could never conceive of why any ministry would need a Deputy Permanent Secretary. It is a position that makes no sense other than to ease the workload of the existing PS.

But this could be better done by increasing the number of Assistant Secretaries within the organization and by devolving greater responsibilities to these Assistant Secretaries. In the case of GuySuCo, it is keenly awaited to see just who will gain the nod as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

I support the removal of the foreign managers of the sugar industry. It was an admission of failure by the former PNC regime that it had to resort to overpriced foreign management contract in the sugar industry.

We are all aware of the pivotal lesson of that period. The sugar industry went down because of politicization of the management of the sugar industry.

It is a lesson that the PPP should bear in mind as it begins the long-awaited revamping. The PPP should keep its tentacles out of this process and allow the seasoned local heads who have over the years gained considerable expertise in the industry to take control of the process.

This, however, is not likely to happen. When Booker Tate goes, the PPP will most likely impose its friends and relatives to replace the expatriate managers and this will spell further doom for the industry.

This will compound the existing mess that has been created at Skeldon. For example, the sugar reform plan calls for one third of the sugar cane for the Skeldon factory to come from private cane farmers.

Now any primary school child would know that before the factory is completed you need to ensure that there are canes to be processed into sugar.

This factory was not built overnight. It has been in the works for some time. Yet, the factory is now undergoing trial runs and now we are learning that there may not be sufficient canes to ensure that the factory works at peak capacity.

Now, how could such a situation have developed and who, including those within the government that ought to have been monitoring this situation, will be held accountable?

No, instead of persons being fired for lack of oversight, what we are going to have is the same thing as we have within the Cabinet. Underperformance is rewarded, and the problem is solved through reshuffling of the short deck.