Guyana can no longer be held ransom by GuySuCo

Mar 11, 2018 Features / Columnists, Letters

Dear Editor,
There is no doubt we are sailing into uncharted waters in Guyana. There is a new Government, yes, a new one.
Systems are being changed. Mistakes are being made. And of course, we cannot discount the impact of oil and the sugar industry…the developments, that is.
Oil has brought a whirlwind of debate of the likes we have never seen. People are seeing the future and they want to live the good life. We can never be happy with this oil deal as it is very clear now we failed in our negotiations to ensure that the best possible arrangements were made.
As we continue to pay keen attention to oil, on another front Guyanese are dealing with another major change- sugar.
Yes, for some critics, this Coalition Government is doing the unthinkable. They are prepared, at what could surely be a political cost, to bite the proverbial bullet and deal with the fallouts of having a profitable sugar industry.
Mr. Editor, nobody can argue the impact of sugar in Guyana. But the writing was on the wall since in the 90s. There were recommendations made, if history teaches us right, to close a number of sugar estates.
Of course, former President Cheddi Jagan was dead set against such a suicidal move.
Fast forward to 2009, the Bharrat Jagdeo administration plunged headlong into a new factory and what is supposed to be an expanded Skeldon Estate.
That went horribly wrong. In addition to migration from Guyana, GuySuCo had to contend with price cuts of more than 35 percent in its biggest market in Europe.
Workers were finding other jobs and GuySuCo wanted monies for retooling.
With a problematic Skeldon under-performing and sucking monies from GuySuCo, draining its reserves, it all went downhill from there.
Today, despite billions of dollars in bailouts, much to the detriment of Guyana, GuySuCo is floundering. It is on the last gasp. It did not happen under this administration. It started the haemorrhaging long before.
Yes, the Granger administration knew the risks. The sugar communities were mainly supporters of the PPP.
There is no business in the world that will produce three or four times what is selling for.
The board of directors would have been sacked long ago.
Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar could not do it. And there is little this government could have done to turn the fortunes around.
The configuration had to change.
It is against this background that this administration took on what would be an unpopular decision to change things.
There were seven estates. Last year, we learnt that over $32B was plunged into GuySuCo since the Coalition took office.
One would wonder why they would want to continue the same thing.
On one hand, we are losing billions from a company. On the other, we are being forced to give up a large chunk of our foreign exchange that comes from sugar exports.
The closure of four estates- Wales, Rose Hall, Skeldon and Enmore- and placing them in the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) hands and hiring Colvin Heath-London was part of the process.
Heath-London appears to have significant experience in sugar across the region and further afield.
This administration has to ensure that four estates remain operational until buyers are found.
For GuySuCo to shutter the estates befuddles the mind.
I have tremendous respect for Professor Clive Thomas but it is clear he is out of his depth here at GuySuCo.
With reports that the Cabinet has approved a new board two weeks ago, there is still a place for keeping the good old professor. He has ideas. He should be an advisor to the new board.
SPU will do well to get those estates open early.
At least a few jobs will be created.
Mr. Editor, people are worried. Go down to the countryside and hear the folks. Yes, we were seeing only over 60 percent in workers’ turnout in GuySuCo. It contributed to the downfall. But every job created could be one less family on the breadline.
The unions have to understand that we have to meet halfway. The rules of engagement have changed.
GuySuCo is under a different configuration. It will be tight. We have to ensure that procurement is watched and fixed at GuySuCo and no more inflated prices paid to families and friends of people there.
We have to look at mechanization. Hard word. But needed, nonetheless.
We have to look at value-added, molasses and getting rid of lands and other inventories that are no use.
The time is now.
Intiaz Mohammed

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