The sub-committees of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the sugar industry have begun the preparation of reports which are to be submitted to Agriculture Minister Noel Holder at the end of the month.
Speaking to Stabroek News on Monday, Chairman of the CoI, Vibert Parvatan said that he was aware of the criticisms and some public perceptions that the CoI was being used as a front while a decision into what to do with the sugar industry and particular the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has already been made by the government. He said that looking at the data collected this just was not the case.
Parvatan said that the sub-committees have commenced the work of compiling a report that will eventually lead to recommendations.
He said that the compilation and the draft report will take close to three weeks and that given the massive amount of information that was gathered during the process, which began July 1, 2015, a decision could not have been made as yet.
The Chairman said that for the next three weeks commissioners will be looking to the Terms of Reference and will lodge the data collected against the various terms. Parvatan, a former Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture prior to 1992, noted that there will be overlapping, but that they will need to see which areas were heavily discussed and had the most concerns. He noted that he told the commissioners on Monday that “there is no predetermined decisions.”
He said of the process that “it is not to be subjective, it is to be rationally approached, bearing in mind all of the sensitivities and the implications.”
The CoI terms of reference state that in the event that avenues and opportunities to make the industry viable in the near future are not realisable “then all other options including diversification and divestment will be considered.”
Analysts say the divestment option is a recognition of the dire state of GuySuCo at the moment.
Lack of PPP involvement
Parvatan downplayed the lack of involvement by members from the former PPP/C administration, under whose charge the sugar industry and GuySuCo saw a significant downturn and which had been in office for 23 years in succession.
He instead noted that the heads of various agricultural departments presented at the CoI including the head of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), Dr Oudho Homenauth and Chief Fisheries Officer, Denzil Roberts who both made detailed presentations.
The Chairman stated that the department heads at GuySuCo were also encouraged to partake in the CoI and did and there were additional occasions for interaction between the commission and staff during the visits to factories and estates.
He did not directly address the fact that key members of the past administration including former Presidents Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo and former Agriculture Ministers, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and Robert Persaud did not appear at the inquiry.
In mid-August Jagdeo said that he would not be addressing the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry as he thinks that it is just a “show” because a decision to privatise sugar has already been made. He further charged that the board would not even have a say in the eventuality and he wanted no part of any structure aiming at dismantling the sector.
He also took a jab at the current administration for rehiring past GuySuCo executives Errol Hanoman and Paul Bhim to run the corporation in the interim, while noting that APNU+AFC while in opposition had consistently called for them to go.
“I am very happy that the persons who managed the sugar industry between 2009 and 2014 were rehired by APNU(+AFC) to run the industry again,” he said, while recalling that the former opposition accused the PPP/C government of trying to put square pegs in round holes only to turn around and hire the same two men.
“I believe sugar can work. I believe you can still do the distillery and the refinery, so many other things with sugar. If you are prepared to invest in it, the money will come back in the long run,” he said, while noting that the government kept bauxite afloat long enough to pull in investors. He said of the current state of sugar and GuySuCo, “The costs of production is so high. Why would a private investor want to buy into the sugar industry?”
Jagdeo has been seen as the key decision-maker behind the disastrous Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project which has saddled the industry with a high production cost and a factory that is not performing.
The CoI is to be completed within 92 days beginning from July 1, 2015. Within 70 days of the beginning, draft hard copies of its report are to be presented to the Agriculture Minister for review by Cabinet.
