An expert offers an alternative to Wales closure

Feb 10, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Having listened to the invited addresses and various comments from the floor at last Friday evening’s Moray House session on Wales estate closure,  it has prompted me to now share with the general public a perspective from my own intimate knowledge of the industry.
I can say that not only have I served the industry for 35 years 1960 to 1995 but that three of the Commissioners –  Chairman Vibart  Parvatan, Harold Davis Jr and John Piggott- were my sugar colleagues either directly or indirectly part of my technical staff during that time, and they would have had the benefit of my own technical knowledge and guidance over the years  as well as access to personal research documentation and other reports. I can also mention that as part of contribution from my own agronomic specialization I served over the years on the D P Sankar headed Industrial Relations Committee of GUYSUCO
I can state that from agronomic studies and research done there in my time on the Wales’ soils ranging from the aluminum toxic heavy clays to the organic pegasse soil type it clearly showed that there were benefits from intensive hand work (forking and shovel work) and fertiliser additives (phosphate lime) which have now become costly in today’s context and can be best done only during favourable weather. Additionally the high rainfall in West Demerara will generally prohibit effective mechanical operations at the best of times. The inability to sustain these costly soil amelioration operations has over time reduced sugar yields, consequently progressively affecting the economic and financial viability of the estate.
With the pending closure of the Wales estate some thoughts for the future may be considered: From a crop diversification perspective the Canal Polder area adjacent to Wales is known for its fruit, vegetables and ground provision potential and already supplies the local market and exports to a small extent. From national economic considerations the challenge is to upgrade this potential for a bigger export market by a combination of labour intensive and mechanized production initiatives. Cut flowers is also a potential for the export market as I know that heliconias and some lilies grow well on the organic soils in the West Demerara area.  The development of some non-traditional fruits  for export  may be considered, such as carambola and passion fruit as done in other countries. I have been on study tours of extensive  papaw, citrus and mango orchards  in Belize  providing for both fresh and processed value-added exports to North America, and  visited a passion fruit farm in Brazil from which the processed juice was being exported to the EU. I also knew there was a time when fresh cut flowers and carambola were  exported from the African continent to the UK market.
There may be markets for these products in North America With respect to privatization of the cultivation only, leaving the factory to fend for itself, I would be wary of any expressed cane farmers’ confidence to be able to sustain a viable field operations from their own resources, or from proceeds received from less than optimum sugar recoveries from an ailing factory.
Factory closure and transfer of cane and labour to Uitvlugt is an option the economics of which is at best dubious as it would entail accounting for Wales’ substantive cane and labour establishments. In any event cane farmers’ utilization of retrenched  labour from a closed Wales estate may  face similar problems with  entrenched attitudes from the current pool of workers who may need to be cycled from cane farm unit to unit to meet  labour requirements, a prospect not without its difficulties. I do hope for the sake of re-newed fortunes in peasant cane farming that I can be proved wrong in my assessment of the work culture, and that there will be a new ethic to field work standards.
I do agree that the closure of Wales estate either now or in the near future will result in severe social hardship for many families in the West Demerara area, and I certainly support any reasonable arrangements to mitigate the immediate effects. However, the net costs of continuing with sugar operations at Wales in the short to medium term will need to be carefully weighed against the combined costs of paying compensation and investing in alternative long term activities.  In all of this, early attention and consideration must be given to the possible fate of other estates, and benefitting from the lessons that will be developing and applicable from these experiences. I have no doubt that with the lesser rainfall and superior soil advantages enjoyed by the more easternly located estates sugarcane agriculture can continue in some form, and that the returns from sugar production will make it worthwhile.
Fritz C McLean

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