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Cabinet approves SPU head as new GuySuCo Chairman
Government has decided to go with an entirely new board for its “right-sized” Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
Cabinet reportedly met last week with the issue of the new board brought to the table.
There was a list of names submitted; Cabinet reportedly recommended Colvin Heath-London as the new Chairman.
The life of the new board expires at the end of next year.
“We are very focused on where GuySuCo is headed. It should be profitable and at no cost to the Government of the day. It should bring dividends. We believe that the presence of Mr. Heath-London who has significant experience in financial matters not only in Guyana and but as a Government advisor in Jamaica, will bring us the synergies that we so badly want to this industry,” a senior Government official said yesterday.
“As you know, Mr. Heath-London was retained to oversee the divestment and privatisation process of four estates that were closed by GuySuCo. He has been helping to find financing for GuySuCo and the left hand must know what the right is doing.
“We have to get it right with GuySuCo and you can’t realistically have a situation where SPU operates on its own and GuySuCo doing its own thing.”
According to information seen by this newspaper, last week Cabinet also approved the appointment of 10 other persons to the new board.
The names approved are Komal Singh; Verna Adrian; Fritz Mc Lean; Rosh Khan (Jr); George Jervis; Arianne Mc Lean; Vishnu Panday; Annette Arjoon and two GuySuCo executives.
Kaieteur News was told that Heath-London has started operating.
Last week, in meetings with GuySuCo, and as part of the restructuring, a number of senior management were let go, including from the Human Resources department.
The former board, headed by Professor Clive Thomas, was at odds with the administration over the manner in which three estates- Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore- were closed late last year.
It left over 4,000 persons without a job.
Last year, Government established the Special Purpose Unit, hiring Heath-London from Jamaica to supervise the privatization and divestment process of the four closed estates which also included Wales.
Of Guyanese and Jamaican origin, the financial consultant who has experience in sugar, has been lending advice to the Government of Jamaica and had helped put together the Timehri airport US$150M expansion project that is supposed to be completed this year.
SPU falls under the state-owned National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
GuySuCo has been racking up a decade of losses despite over $30B in bailouts by Government in the last three years.
An inquiry ordered by the Coalition Government after it came to office in 2015, recommended actions to be taken to reverse the fortunes.
The industry had more than 16,000 workers prior to the closures of the estates. It now has just over 10,000.
Meanwhile, responding to reports yesterday in some news outlet of objections to the appointment, the Ministry of Finance in a statement said it has taken note of an “incredible” headline in Stabroek News under the headline ‘Finance Minister proposal on GuySuCo Chair draws opposition at Cabinet’.
“For the record, the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan was in fact attending an important Pre – Governors meeting of the IDB in Jamaica which ran from February 26 to 28, 2018. He returned to Guyana last night (Wednesday). Therefore, contrary to Stabroek News ‘sources,’ Minister Jordan was not present at Cabinet on Tuesday and consequently, did not ‘propose, argue, make a presentation or reasoned’ with Cabinet as reported.”
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