Sugar is resilient, don’t dump it

Jan 30, 2018 Letters

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Editor,
Guyana is losing its comparative advantage in the Caribbean as a producer of agricultural produce, in particular sugar and rice.
The downsizing, euphemistically dubbed “rightsizing” of sugar and the failure to take full advantage of market opportunities for rice in CARICOM and the neighbouring countries of Venezuela and Brazil do not augur well for the sustainable growth and development of the agricultural sector and for that matter the economy as a whole.
I have argued in several letters in the media that the economy of this country is inextricably linked to the development of agriculture which remains the backbone of the economy. In this regard, agriculture cannot be relegated to a secondary role in the economy.
We have all the ingredients for agriculture to flourish, namely fertile land, skilled and experienced agricultural labourers, a relatively good infrastructure of roads and canals for drainage and irrigation purposes and by no means least, a fairly good and predictable market for our agricultural products.
This is why I will argue that the downsizing of sugar is shortsighted and counterproductive. The mining and oil sectors cannot supplant agriculture because of market volatility and price instability for both oil and minerals, more particularly bauxite and gold.
The long term prospects for oil and gas on which we seem to depend so much is not good in light of an emerging green global economy and alternative sources of renewable energy.
This is why the natural and competitive advantage we have enjoyed over the decades as a major exporter of agricultural products should be maintained and consolidated.
The fact is that billions of dollars have been spent over the decades to build a solid infrastructure for sugar and rice production. This infrastructure will most likely deteriorate and crumble with the passage of time following the closure of sugar estates not to mention the loss of other external benefits to the communities by way of internal drainage and irrigation sub-systems and other socio-economic benefits.
The government seems hell bent to close down the sugar estates and no arguments advanced by the sugar unions and other stakeholders including the political opposition would suffice to result in a change of mind.
The political will to save the industry is simply not there insofar as this current administration is concerned. In fact, the intention to divest and privatize sugar was taken since the early 1990’s under the Desmond Hoyte administration and it was not until the PPP/C administration took power in October 1992 that the privatization of the industry was abandoned.
With a change of administration on May 2015, the privitization/closure of the sugar estates once again became a front burner issue and has now culminated in the impending closure of four estates including the flagship Skeldon Estate in which billions of dollars were spent by the previous administration towards its modernization.
I remain unconvinced that sugar cannot be saved and restored to economic viability. Sugar over the decades had seen several ups and downs but it has always survived the vagaries and changing fortunes of time and circumstances.
I believe that it is not too late to save the industry provided that there is constructive and committed engagement between the current administration and key stakeholders more particularly GAWU which to its credit has militantly and unrelentingly represented its membership.
The Unions have done a commendable job in resisting the decision to close the estates and subsequently engaging the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the current administration with a view to mitigate the impact of the closure of the estates on the affected workers.
I believe that the government has a duty and obligation to adhere to its fiduciary and legal obligation to pay all workers their full severance as demanded by the unions. Moreover, it should immediately embark on a new and strategic approach to keep all the factories grinding even if it means working in partnership with local and foreign investors and making lands available to sugar workers to grow cane for sale to these newly created or re-configured entities.
Several interesting and, in my view, workable proposals, were made by GAWU to save the industry. The government needs to pause and take a fresh look at the available options rather than lamenting the subsidies it had been pouring into the industry.
The sugar industry has, for several decades in the past, subsidized the economy by way of huge amounts of levies paid to the government. The records will show that during the lean years when the rest of the economy was underperforming, it was sugar that kept the economy afloat.
It is only fair and reasonable, therefore, that the government now come to the rescue of the industry until it is restored to economic viability.
Hydar Ally

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