The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the sugar industry yesterday completed its first round of factory visits.
CoI Chairman Vibert Parvatan told Stabroek News that a team of five persons visited Uitvlugt yesterday, having already visited Wales on Monday as well as Skeldon at the beginning of the month.
The commission sent its team to Albion on July 8th, Rose Hall on July 9th, Blairmont on July 14th and Enmore on July 15th.
Asked if there were recurring issues found at the estate factories, Parvatan said so far the concerns have been varied. He added that the team that was sent on the factory visits will need to report their findings first to the commission and then subsequently the public.
According to a Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) source, factory spares have been issues for both the US$110M Skeldon factory as well as the Uitvlugt factory. The now obsolete 2013-2017 Strategic Plan for the industry had forecast that capital expenditure for the factories for 2015 would be $271M and $116M, respectively.
As the corporation was moving towards mechanisation, it was criticised for its heavy investment at Skeldon while neglecting many of the older sugar factories, some of which are over 70 years old and in dire need of attention and money.
The maintenance costs, repairs, rehabilitation and recovery of GuySuCo’s factories have been marked as important investigative areas under the commission’s mandate.
Once the commission investigates and reports its findings, recommendations are to be made which could possibly include downsizing of factories based on their profitability to the industry.
According to a statement released by the commission, factory visits were inclusive of meetings between the team members and all levels of staff. The CoI noted that the commissioners spoke with employees and advised the sharing of concerns that marked the “decline in production and consequential losses over the past years.”
Additionally, visits will be done once the second crop has commenced, which has since been stalled due to inclement weather, the statement added.
The commission stated that since its first meeting “members of the commission have started consultations with various stakeholders. So far, those persons who presented their views and made statements to the commission include Mr Sydney Robinson, a former factory manager in the sugar industry who now resides in Florida; Mr Vickram Oditt, former Chairman of GuySuCo; Mr Anthony Vieira, former shareholder of Houston/Versailles estates and a manager in the industry; Mr Earl John, former Human Resources Director of GuySuCo and Mr Raymond Sangster, General Manager, Agriculture Services, GuySuCo.”
Stabroek News was informed by both of the sugar industry’s main unions GAWU and NAACIE that they are preparing presentations for the commission.
The commission has also stated that the Guyana Labour Union, representatives of the National Cane Farming Association, Vishnu Panday, former General Manager of GuySuCo, Lance Tyrell, former Factory Manager and Chief Electrical Engineer at GuySuCo and George Alleyne, formerly of GuySuCo, have also signalled their intentions to make presentations.
