AFC touts Special Select Committee to deal with GuySuCo woes

Jul 18, 2014 News

By Gary Eleazar
The Alliance for Change (AFC) says that at present it has not arrived at a decision on whether to support more financial bailouts of the cash-strapped Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), but is suggesting that a Special Sectoral Committee of Parliament be set up to diagnose the problems of the industry and make recommendations.

The AFC team fielding questions from the media corps yesterday.

This is according to party executive Dominic Gaskin, who during a press engagement yesterday, said that the party has not as a collective discussed the current predicament, and as such, could not say if the AFC is in agreement with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, that approving the recent $6B bailout was a mistake.
Gaskin said that at this point in time it would be difficult to say whether approving the bailout for GuySuCo was a mistake or not, and qualified his sentiment by saying that the AFC has not done sufficient analysis “to form that conclusion.” He was however in agreement that “GuySuCo is a tragedy in the making.”
Gaskin drew reference to the fact that while GuySuCo has submitted a comprehensive plan, there have been such plans in the past, but the targets were not achieved.
According to Gaskin, the AFC would be supportive of whatever outcomes are recommended from the proposed special committee, should that become a reality. He said that if it is the view of the Special Committee that GuySuCo should not be further subsidized, “then we would not support an increase in the subsidy.”
Gaskin said that the committee being proposed would be separate and distinct from the Economic Services Committee, which GuySuCo officials recently appeared before and spoke of a turnaround plan and the need for billions more.
The proposed committee, he said, would be isolated to dealing with GuySuCo alone.
Gaskin cautioned that this is not a position that has been formally adopted by the party executive and that at present it is only a suggestion.
AFC Member of Parliament, Trevor Williams, who was also on hand for the press briefing, told journalists present that the party has gone the extra mile to ensure that there is a viable turn-around plan for the industry.
“GuySuCo needs to be more accountable and give to the nation some satisfaction that it is on a turnaround path.”
He said that for the party to give a response to the call for more money when the company is yet to provide information on how the previous monies were spent and if targets were met, the AFC is cautious on how monies are being spent by GuySuCo.
He also lamented the unsatisfactory management of the industry from the level of its Board of Directors.
Williams was adamant that GuySuCo’s call for more money must be met with critical examination of what has taken place since the last bailout was provided.
APNU Shadow Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Roopnaraine, has conceded that the $6B bailout voted for earlier this year was a mistake.
“Frankly when we did it, it was a mistake. I will tell you that, bluntly, because no bail out money should be made available to any malfunctioning corporation until we can ensure that in fact we correct the malfunction, errors and deficiencies, and they give us an indication on how they plan to expend this money provided.”