Dear Editor,
The recent arbitration in the sugar industry is a real slap in the faces of all the sugar workers of this country; a 6% increase is a serious blow to the working poor who struggle each day with the most difficult and stressful jobs in this nation. Guysuco has already received over $4 billion in loans from the government and continues to mismanage and mishandle the workers’ interests and indeed, the nation’s interests. Every day that passes, our country loses money due to the strikes, slow-downs and the frustration of the workers in the sugar industry, and the Guyanese taxpayer is realizing that the US$180M borrowed to finance the Skeldon sugar complex will come back to haunt our children who will have to pay back this huge debt for a ‘dead duck’ instead of a ‘golden goose’ investment. This money could have been used to really rehabilitate the sugar industry while investing in new agricultural areas to create job opportunities.
The sugar workers and their families have to realize that the albatross around their necks which keeps them in perpetual financial bondage is the same government they voted for − the same government which brought in the horrendous 16% VAT, has failed them in terms of fiscal responsibility ($600M to repair the harbour bridge; $700M on Carifesta; millions on helicopters which are inadequate; millions on travel and allowances by government officials and the list can go on and on) and has colluded with the leadership of GAWU to deny the sugar workers a good and prosperous future.
How come the President fired Mr Ronald Alli from GPL as that company faced serious problems, and he keeps Mr Alli in place while the sugar industry falls apart and the workers cry out for help? How come the Minister of Agriculture is contented with the arbitration results? How come the Berbice ferry crossing is in shambles, the water and light situation is in shambles − especially in Berbice − and there is nothing doing at Black Bush Polder which should be a breadbasket? The answer to these questions all lead back to what President Cheddi always criticized in government: square pegs in round holes. President Cheddi is in heaven and in heaven one looks down to see what is indeed happening to one’s life-work; and as he looks down at the mess this government has created in the sugar industry and in this country as a whole, I know that he is angry because the sugar industry was his roots and his political blood-line.
The workers in the sugar industry have got to open their eyes and understand that just as they stood up over the decades to injustice and exploitation, they have to pull the wool from their eyes and see clearly that this government is not the government of Cheddi Jagan; things have changed and the principles of that great man’s life have been chucked aside and locked away in this government’s agenda to increase taxation and spending while borrowing so much to leave our children broke and destitute. They only open the locked vault of President Cheddi’s political attributes during election time in order to fool the poor workers of the sugar industry into voting for them so that the vicious cycle of square pegs in round holes can be propagated.
There are many answers to solving the crisis in the sugar industry, but the need for change is apparent. Some will say that we need to contract the industry and specialize in organic and white sugar; others might feel that we should abandon sugar and really diversify into other agricultural fields of endeavour. The bottom line is, however, that this government does not institute policies which will create jobs and expand the role of the private sector, so any conjecture about fixing any part of our economy is useless as long as we keep electing this government. The sugar workers have to realize that in reality it is their vote which keeps this government in place, not only to weaken their own standard of living and limit their children’s future, but to cripple the rest of our fragile economy with square pegs in round holes.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
