Sugar has to be replaced by something which must be profitable

Nov 08, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
Editor’s note; this is the conclusion of Mr. Vieira’s letter, the first part of which was carried in our edition yesterday under the caption; “An adumbration on the origins of GuySuco’s troubles.”
We started growing sugar here in 1630. It brought all of us here excepting the indigenous peoples. Everything we are as a nation today is due mainly to the sugar industry. But it has to be replaced by something else which will be profitable for our people in the future or these arguments will not be legitimate. There is no legitimate projection of GuySuCo’s future as a sugar industry, which I have seen, that sees it as becoming profitable at any time.
Finally Mr. Editor I have to make one observation which I offer in good faith. Nowhere have I seen that with our new found wealth as an oil producing nation, that we have indeed realized our position that we are now a country with a great asset and it is self-evident that we should begin to employ those assets now; and negotiate, loans for projects which we have always wanted – hydropower, a deep water harbor and the road to Brazil,
Our having this massive oil potential is not going to reduce our need to develop hydropower. Venezuela even though it was the 4thbiggest exporter of oil a few years ago, generates 98 % of its domestic power from hydro not oil. Once you have the potential you use it, and we have that potential from the dawn of time. It was always there. If we resolve our power problems it would immediately improve our economic situation and make Guyana realize its potential.
Over and over I keep hearing that Guyana is the bread basket of the Caribbean, that is frankly debatable due to the rising ocean levels and the dangers it poses to our coast, but hydropower will guarantee that with cheap electricity, industries and manufacturing will come quickly. The five countries that account for more than half of the world’s hydropower production are Brazil, Canada, China, Russia and the US. These five countries contain three superpowers – the US, Russia & China.
Experts acknowledge the striking correlation between hydropower development and a country’s economic development. Norway, one of Europe’s poorest countries a century ago, is today a highly industrialized, self-reliant and wealthy nation. Nearly 99% of Norway’s electricity supply comes from the electricity generated by its hydropower plants which have a total capacity of 27,000 MW. We must start now to negotiate our way forward now that we have the assets to be able to pay for it. When Guyana makes a hydropower plant and supplies Manaus and the state of Amazona and Roraima in Brazil with power and a road to the Atlantic, then we will be a very powerful nation.
There are currently more than 30 power transmission linkages between the United States and Canada. During 2014, 60 companies in Canada exported 58.4 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity into the United States, making up 1.6% of U.S. electricity retail sales and 10% of Canadian electricity generation. The largest exporters were Hydro-Québec (16.4 TWh) and the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (8.6 TWh).New England and New York accounted for 60% of the total electricity imported into the United States in 2014. We have to wake up. We have everything we need; all we are lacking is the vision to use it. Our total current generation is 100-120 megawatts. Our government has calculated that the upper Marzaruni river alone contains the potential to produce 4.5 megawatts of electricity. All of this has made Canada a very wealthy country. It is big business; this exportation of power. What’s wrong with us?
Tony Vieira

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