Union slams Agri Minister’s tirade on $30B GuySuCo bond -says clear demonstration of how country’s affairs being managed

Sep 28, 2018 News

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A $30B bond financing for the three-estate Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has sparked anger from Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder, over how the monies are being disbursed.
It would raise questions whether Holder, a senior member of the Cabinet of Ministers, was kept in the loop with the bond details.
It will be recalled that the monies were raised by the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL), an arm of the Government that handles investments.
Earlier this year, NICIL successfully negotiated with a number of local banks and other financial institutions to raise the bond.
The transactions were being handled by the Hand-in-Hand Trust with Republic Bank, and reportedly the Guyana Bank For Trade and Industry.
At the end, the negotiations for what was considered the biggest facility of its kind, locally, NICIL managed to secure $30B with $17B available under the first tranche.
In August, NICIL said it had released almost $2B to the smaller-sized GuySuCo.
Since then, the bond facility has been suspended by Republic Bank, which had objections to GuySuCo using the monies to pay off its debt at another bank.
The monies from the bond were supposed to be spent on improving the factories of Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt, the three remaining estates of GuySuCo.
Already, Republic Bank has written to Hand-in-Hand Trust complaining about the misuse of the funds by the cash-strapped GuySuCo.
For its part, Republic Bank, only days ago, suspended the transactions until there are clarifications.
It now appears the situation over the release of the monies has angered Holder, who earlier this week suggested that he was not involved and may not even want the proceeds of the financing.
“So they now apparently secured some $30B bond which GuySuCo management has not seen, which the Minister of Agriculture has not seen, and frankly speaking, don’t really want to see.”
According to a video on SafeTV2 Headline News, Minister Holder explained that the idea was to find bridging financing for GuySuCo for it to continue with its projects.
This was pending the sale of three closed estates- Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore.
“I don’t understand, like you; I can’t understand how you get $30B; pay four percent interest; sit on it and don’t hand it over to who’s supposed to use it.”
The Minister is part of Cabinet, which is supposed to be briefed on the bond, which has been in the news throughout the year.
In fact, NICIL recently disclosed details of the $2B it had released but warned that GuySuCo has to submit applications for monies for projects.
There were strict rules how the monies are to be spent.
At odds
The Agriculture Ministry and GuySuCo have been at deep odds with NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU), a special department, which is overlooking the divestment and privatization of the three estates.
In fact, the Agriculture Ministry and GuySuCo reportedly objected vehemently to a board named earlier this year with SPU’s head, Colvin Heath-London as the Chairman.
Another board was recently named.
The fighting has been continuing quietly.
GuySuCo has been insisting that the compound of LBI, East Coast Demerara, a former estate, is under its jurisdiction.
SPU has set up its office there.
SPU reportedly has refurbished the LBI Staff Club and Lounge and was supposed to have launched it today.
However, GuySuCo, earlier this week cancelled the launching ceremony.
The sugar industry has fallen to an all-time low with production expected to barely scrape past the 100,000-tonne mark, the lowest in decades.
The cash-strapped corporation has been demanding billions of dollars annually in bailouts from consecutive Governments as production costs soared to almost four times what sugar was being sold for on the world market.
The industry has seen more than 7,000 workers sent home since late 2016 with the workforce just over 10,000 now.
The administration, unable to afford the bailouts, is in the final stage of assessing a number of offers for the three closed estates and has indicated that there are some serious offers, including from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for GuySuCo.
Clueless
Meanwhile, the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), in statement yesterday, said it is taken aback by Minister Holder’s “seeming outburst”.
The sugar workers union said that it seems that apparently Minister Holder is out of the loop regarding the monies that have been borrowed, which are backed by a sovereign Government guarantee and secured by the assets of NICIL – which incidentally belong to the people of Guyana.
“The Minister’s tirade, as it were, is yet another demonstration of how the affairs of the country are addressed by the Granger administration. It also, once more, brings into focus the administration’s more than confused approach to the sugar industry generally.”
According to GAWU, apart from that, the Minister’s venting is a serious indictment on him and his performance.
“The GAWU would want to believe that as a responsible leader of our country, entrusted with overseeing one of the largest sectors of the country, he would have sought to get to the bottom of where the borrowed monies were and seek to channel it to the industry, which requires it urgently.”
GAWU insisted that Minister Holder’s stewardship of sugar and some can say of the “entire agricultural industry”, has been, by many standards, less than acceptable.
“The GAWU recalls the Minister’s quick abrogation of responsibility for the sugar industry when the nation learnt, the Granger administration like thieves in the night, transferred GuySuCo to the auspices of NICIL.”
The union said that it seems that the Minister is least bothered, apparently, by doing the best he can do and has simply resigned himself to escape responsibility as best as he can.
“This lethargic approach from a senior minister who has such weighty responsibilities is a disservice to our country’s people and is, certainly, no encouragement to a main productive sector of our economy.”

 

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