GuySuCo is a reflection of Guyana; obsessed with race, stubbornly clinging to old methods

Feb 26, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Sugar is in the news once again, and as has been the case for the past decade, it is no good news. Strikes and Blairmont and Wales  and, of course the major revelation by Kaieteur News February 22, 2012; “GuySuCo racks up US $40M debt to local banks, creditors- Overseas banks refuse to lend money”
It was just under a year ago that Opposition Leader David Granger, who was APNU’s presidential candidate at that time, was publicly criticized and shouted down by supporters of the government, for publicly expressing an opinion favoring privatization of government corporations like GuySuCo .
Let me state before I go any further that I believe that governments have no business running corporations, these types of entities are best managed by the private sector.
Taking the current government at their own words, as outlined in the National Development Strategy document ; by 2010 sugar would have become more competitive because of (1)higher field productivity based on improved farm practices and improved genetic varieties (2)the utilization of additional areas of land mainly in the Skeldon and Albion/ Rosehall areas; (3)enhanced sugar recovery through the replacement of the existing obsolescent mills by larger state of the art factories which, in addition to giving higher yields, exhibit significant scale economies…… merging of some estates and some operations, utilization of diffusion technology and the co-generation of power from GPL and GuySuCo’s  own bagasse etc.
Now if one were to take this projection by  the Government at face value, it is clear that the decision makers believed that the industry would have been in good fiscal health in year 2010; however we all know that is not the case.
It is clear to industry watchers that GuySuCo will fall short of its projected annual production targets in 2012. Estates are still under-performing, cost of production is way above what it should be for our sugar to be competitive on the World market, and continued political  interference in the management of the industry, all point to an industry in crisis.
When on adds to this the heavy debt burden that the sugar corporation have accumulated, the picture gets even worse. GuySuCo  owes $8 billion in short term debt; local banks are owed $4.1 billion, advances from creditors account for another $700 million; they are behind on their payments and foreign banks have refused to lend them money that the corporation desperately needs to pay the Annual  Production Incentives (API).
Mr. Editor we have danced around the issue of sugar in Guyana, because sugar and race are subjects that cause much discomfort, and both are manipulated for political gain.
It is a fact that sugar is no longer “King Sugar” those days are gone and the sugar industry will continue to be a drag on the economy unless we make some drastic changes. It is also clear that the PPPC which draws most of its support from sugar workers will be committing political suicide if they even attempted to make the changes that are necessary to realign the industry.
The workers union, GAWU because of their allegiance to the PPPC is no longer an honest broker, and cannot be trusted to advocate for the rights of the sugar workers, who are simultaneously lied to and cuddled because of their votes.
Someone needs to tell these workers the bitter truth that sugar is dead, that the industry as currently managed cannot be sustained economically; that privatization will bring some measure of relief but it will come with a heavy social and economic price for a large section of the Indian community.
Forty years ago when other major sugar producing nations like Cuba were moving towards mechanization, Guyana opted to retain manual labour.
We blamed the Roman style beds on which the cane is traditionally planted, but the truth is, we did not change because of the makeup of the labour force; here again race and politics trumped economics and logic.
Mr. Editor several generations have grownup hearing those magic words; Guyana is a country of great promise…. (Then there is the but…).  The “but” is the fly in the ointment; the incompetent  people we continue to entrust with managing our affairs; racial cleavage and ignorance; the absence of the rule of law; corruption and nepotism; poor leadership at all levels and a population that is tired and worn down after years of broken promises and abuse.
GuySuCo is a reflection of Guyana; obsessed with race, stubbornly clinging to old methods, poorly managed and with no clear vision. Guyana and GuySuCo can be changed, but both must first face some bitter truths and exorcise the demons that currently thwart our “promise”.
Mark Archer

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