Vastly different visions for a bankrupt GuySuCo

Jun 23, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Donald Ramotar wants to be the next President of Guyana. Fair enough. Everyone can aspire to be the President of a nation. But what has been Donald Ramotar’s legacy?
He sat as a member of the Omai Gold Mines Board while that company did not pay its fair share of taxes to Guyana, and whose operation was the cause of a major environmental disaster a few years ago with inadequate compensation to the people most affected – the Amerindians.
Add that to the bankrupt GuySuCo which relies on cash injections from the Government and is unable to service its debt or honour its financial obligations.
Donald Ramotar sat on GuySuCo’s board for the last 18 years as the industry withered away into a failed institution. Donald wants to be the President of an entire country and could not save a single industry with any bright idea or ideas.
GuySuCo got rid of the Booker Tate Management team and failed to replace it with an adequate number of professionals who are skilled to attack the challenges facing the corporation.
Ramotar’s out-of-the-box idea involved blaming the weather and sugar workers for the problems GuySuCo found itself in.
Guyana is a tropical country and the weather will always be a challenge for GuySuCo. It is not an excuse for poor production.
Jock Campbell mitigated for it in the Booker days, why could the Ramotar board not mitigate for it today? El Niño and La Niña were two seasons. What happened after that and before that?
The reality; Ramotar is unable to think outside of his box, his skill set is now manifested into a legacy that is well aligned to his political sponsor; the current President – blame everyone else but themselves for the mess Guysuco is in.
Guysuco has been struggling because of inadequate yield management, inefficient factories, and very poor cost control and these factors will bring the company to its knees, if not addressed urgently.
The PPP’s historical legacy has been the cane-burning gangs unleashed by the PPP during the Burnham administration to undermine our country and when they are in charge, gross incompetence and mal-administration, which puts all freedom fighters pre-1992 to shame. What the PPP has not done is brought any significant ideas to fruition that will save the sugar belt.
The PPP has lost its focus. Greed by a few, widespread dishonesty and a pervasive rent-seeking attitude of their business buddies are working against progress in every sphere of Guyana.
Where is Donald Ramotar in all of this? Right in the middle. Can we honestly put another incompetent to sit in New Garden Street to draw more taxpayers’ money for services not rendered? Can we honestly say Donald Ramotar is good for Guyana?
That he can deliver on Cheddi Jagan’s humble dream of sharing the economic pie of the nation to all of the people?
Guysuco will be a primary 2011 elections issue and the corporation will face intense public scrutiny. Can its board rise to the challenge and turn the industry around in such a short possible time?
From the cane cutter to the CEO, all must all be singularly focused on minimizing the cash outflow without compromising the industry.
That is why,for instance, when GuySuCo used its trucks to ferry and feed the people attending the circus at Babu John, they totally disrespected the value structure of Dr Jagan, and were throwing good money after a bad cause. Cash wastage like this adds up and contributes to the strangulation of the industry.
The Alliance for Change (AFC) is prepared to take decisive steps to rescue the sugar industry. GuySuCo will continue to face human resource constraints unless addressed.
The AFC will hire professional managers to address the managerial deficiencies at the estates.
Additionally, the AFC will mechanize incrementally the operations so as to address the shortfall in the recurring workforce for the estates.
The supply of human sugar cane harvesters is dwindling, as fewer individuals are willing to seek a future on the estate.
We will produce a cadre of human cane harvesters who will be retrained to operate mechanized cane harvesters as we incrementally convert the Roman-Dutch beds to facilitate mechanization.
The bottom line for the people in the sugar belt – less work, more pay, and a more efficient production system.
Guysuco needs to improve efficiency in converting cane to sugar. One would expect that the cost/revenue per estate data will be used by the current management to increase efficiencies at all levels.
The AFC believes that the revenue per employee on the Demerara Estate can be upped with an E-10 ethanol plan which will translate into more money for GuySuCo, less imports for Guyana, and an overall positive impact on the balance of payment of the nation.
Not rocket science and surely within the capacity of Ramotar’s understanding, after all they claimed he is a trained economist.
Inefficient factories need to be addressed and Central Government should fund as a one-off, the rehabilitation of all the loss-making factories to cut out non-value added processes to further slash costs.
Parliament needs to approve such expenditure upon justification and not just scoop out billions from the treasury without explanation, as is the administration’s now well-established modus operandi.
It is the AFC’s vision to make GuySuCo the BMW of sugar companies globally. Our vision is to increase our cane-driven bio-fuel production, fix the factories, sort the production process from cane to sugar/ethanol and diversify the industry so that every single cost centre is clearly linked to a revenue stream that is greater than the associated cost. Yes it can be done.
The key is doing a forensic audit and finding the sweet spots. But then again will the government be comfortable with such an audit?
Sasenarine Singh

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