The existing challenges in the sugar industry stem from issues relating to restructuring but privatising GuySuCo is not the answer to solving the company’s woes, PPP/C MP Donald Ramotar asserts.
“I think that the problems in the industry are really a problem of restructuring. We should not mistake that to say it should be privatised, it has no future and things like that. I am convinced that it has a very, very good future,” Ramotar said on Friday during his contribution to the ongoing budget debates.
Ramotar, a member of GuySuCo’s Board, said that due to changes in the modernized world, the local industry is facing challenges and it cannot continue operating in the old manner.
He said the country was losing $10B per year because of a price shift in Europe and that in an attempt to alleviate many of the problems, the Skeldon Sugar Factory was developed.
Stating that there are some problems at Skeldon, Ramotar said that these are “nothing to gloat about.” He said work needed to be done to correct the problems and help the facility to realize its full potential. He referred as well to efforts to put value-added to sugar with the establishment of the Enmore Packaging Plant.
Ramotar said that there is a need to “beef up” GuySuCo’s management and to “give them more skills.” He nevertheless staunchly defended the company’s management. “But the skills that we have there and the level of management are a bunch of people that I’ve been proud to associate with. People who have been working extremely hard to turn the industry around,” he said.
Speaking about the budget in
general, Ramotar stated that the PPP/C government believes there is a direct link between development and democracy and that the administration has always worked on this.
He said the PPP/C government sees the opposition parties having an important role to play in the democratic process, and that the government believes in the freedom of the press. “Every day members of this side of the House are slandered in the papers,” he said.
Denigrating
Meanwhile, PPP/C MP Gail Teixeira criticised sections of the media for denigrating the rights of citizens. “It is an irony in this country and I think in a number of other countries where the media plays a role in terms of denigrating people’s rights and eroding them,” she said. According to her, while a number of organisations and bodies have come out in support of the budget or a
policy, certain media houses have tried to belittle these individuals.
“What we find particularly interesting, is that there are attempts in the media, not by Mr (Robert) Corbin, not by Mr (Raphael) Trotman but by the media. The writers and the editors of the media and certain media houses that belittle these legitimate, elected leaders of civil society bodies,” she said. Teixeira expressed herself particularly disturbed by cartoons and an editorial which appeared in the Stabroek Business. When members of the opposition benches began to heckle her, Teixeira retorted strongly: “I have a right to also give my opinion about the media. The media is not above criticism… I don’t know that we as politicians and elected officials handed over our rights to the fourth estate.” She said she had a duty to protect the rights of the country’s citizens.
Speaking specifically about the budget, Teixeira said that while the budget is not perfect, the macro-economic vision and stability of the administration has put Guyana in a position that it has never been in before, where it is positioned to take off and move forward in a rapid way. She said that independent international bodies have issued reports which reflect favourably on developments happening in Guyana.
Meanwhile GAP/ROAR MP Everall Franklin told the National Assembly that while he has no problem with the government producing “the largest budget ever” the issue is how well the money is spent. Franklin also pointed to “a very damaging omission” in the Finance Minister’s budget. According to him, there was a lack of information on the country’s parallel economy and its effect on the real economy.
Franklin also expressed dissatisfaction about the high level of unemployment in Guyana. He said that Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir ought to be relieved of his portfolio since he has “failed to reduce in any meaningful way” the figures on unemployment. The opposition MP also expressed concern about the new housing schemes being built exclusively for remigrants, and said he hoped that they did not discriminate against Guyanese. He argued that whatever facilities these housing schemes would have, ordinary Guyanese would have access to them.
New PNCR-1G MP Joan Baveghems in her maiden address to the house made it clear that it is her intention to represent the grassroots. She expressed her disappointment that the budget did not have money set aside to assist those vendors at the Stabroek and La Penitence markets who were recently relocated.
She also called for the administration to expand its school feeding programme to all schools in Guyana, since poverty is widespread. She also urged the government to provide more than just one uniform per child, saying that parents often could not afford to pay for uniforms for their children.
Meanwhile, PPP/C MP Odinga Lumumba described the budget as one which is based on the wishes of the country’s citizenry. He said that there had been widespread consultations before the budget had been produced. He called on the opposition parties to support the government as it moves to improve the lives of Guyanese.
