Dear Editor,
KN of April 13, 2012, under the caption, ‘Brazilian company to develop ethanol plant at Albion Estate,‘ reported as follows:
“Critical to such a venture is a successful sugar industry and the Agriculture Minister is optimistic about the future of GuySuCo, since according to him, the company is successfully confronting the challenges it is currently facing.”
This Board must assume responsibility for what appeared in the Guyana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2012-2015, which referred to “undertakings“ to contribute to the expansion of productivity in the sugar industry through “resolving the ‘kinks’ in equipment, and the management of the Skeldon Factory.“
Only two weeks ago, therefore, GuySuCo’s Board released the following “major rehabilitation including the redesigning and re-engineering of several aspects of the factory,“ such as
· re-engineering the bagasse feeding system
· re-designing cane conveyors
· replacement of a 5 MW alternator
· modification of punt-dumpers
· a new well.
Additionally, the release stated that international engineering experts and technical professionals in the area of diffusion technology had been identified.
How come the Board missed mentioning the proposed ethanol plant at Albion Estate, very much akin to the Skeldon staff being unaware of the ‘kinky’ rehabilitation to take place at that location?
Surely the time spent in misleading both sides of the House can be more productively utilised by the Minister of Agriculture in developing constructive communication links between himself, the Board of GuySuCo, the industry’s managers, the unions and everybody’s workers.
In the meantime one hopes that the opposition took time to remind the Minister to check on the photographs in SN of April 9 (pages 3 and 9) on the vaunted Enmore Packaging Plant, showing the following:
· sugar spilt from the defective conveyor belt
· the shaker or sifter with defective bearing
· overheating bearings of the No 4 mill being soaked with water to keep the system cool
· crushed sugar spilling from the defective screw worm
All from a plant designed and constructed by identifiable ‘international’ experts.
Yours faithfully,
E B John
