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Remaining sugar estates
Dear Editor,
The management of the sugar industry by Guyana Sugar Corporation successive Boards of Directors has always been composed of persons who have never considered that they have had to be accountable to a higher authority, the Government of the day, much less to the owners of the enterprise- the people of Guyana who own GuySuCo. Since nationalization successive Boards have displayed the notion that GuySuCo’s resources could never be depleted, deep as the oceans.
The Boards have not operated over the years as conscious business people willing to manage the ebbs and flows of a multi-billion dollar enterprise. In a cursory examination of Board members since 1976, there is hardly any evidence that Boards of Directors displayed the ability to fulfill the mission of the Corporation.
Beginning in the mid-seventies , the European Community made it clear that as time progresses the EC will not be able to sustain the preferential market for sugar. Efforts at diversification by GuySuCo ended in failure either through lack of efficient management, or sabotage by groups who envied the expected outcome. We propose to submit additional article on Diversification in opposition to diversify another word for privitisation, which we shall not accept.
The present low price for sugar on the world market cannot sustain the industry. Sugar was the primary foreign exchange earner and the second largest employer after the Government of Guyana. It is the mainstay of communities in and around the sugar estates.
King sugar has contributed to the growth of the country, also to the development of community sports, health-care and other facilities. Cricket, football, athletics developed around the sugar communities.
Prior to independence, fourteen sugar estates were in operation. The price begun its decline in the early 1970’s and so was sugar production in Guyana. Today, sugar production is half of what it was in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
In addition to lower prices and less demand, the industry has been plagued with labour unrest, high production costs, low productivity and out-dated equipment, and labour unions that still operate in 1950’s mode in the 21st century.
Editor these are the woes of the sugar industry, and by extension the sugar workers and the owners being the people of Guyana.
The Government of Guyana who is the manager of the country’s assets is sleeping at the wheel. This ship m.v. Guyana is rudder-less and the captain is not in the wheel house.
Editor, I am departing from the traditional form of presentations through the media, by presenting excerpts of clippings taken from KN since 2015, articles submitted by your readers which display deep understanding of the crisis sugar faces, and the motivation of the letter writers to expose the failures of GuySuCo’s management. Through expression of their views, writers have produced viable inputs as to the reasons for the demise of sugar, the ineptitude of GuySuCo, call to give the lands to sugar workers as sweat equity and land to African Guyanese who may wish to become farmers or who may not possess sufficient acreages to maintain their families, to help our people to be self-employed and be dignified. It is a worry-some sight to see our females hurrying to be watch- women at other people’s properties, leaving their children alone at home.
Mr. V. Odit wrote -let’s focus on issues to return GuySuCo to profitability. He must know the short comings, for when he departed as Chairman of GuySuCo Board, he wrote in KN of October 14, 2015: The issue of political interference must be distinct from political support. Government of Guyana is the sole shareholder of GuySuCo and, as such appoints a Board of Directors, that it has confidence to perform the mandate given to it. Those Directors have a ficundiary responsibility to perform, or they should be replaced.
I venture to suggest that the persons who contributed to the discussion on GuySuCo, do have heart-felt longing to remove the entity that has failed repeatedly in the present and in the past, without remorse, and let the remaining sugar estates be operated by their own management as in the past. GuySuCo has out-lived its purpose and must be removed from the sugar scene forthwith.
Yours truly,
Hafiz Rahman
National Farmers Organization
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