Dear Editor,
On Monday, January 18, Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder announced the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate with effect from the end of the second crop of 2016. As an immediate step to ensuring that this decision is executed, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that no further land preparation and planting would be conducted in 2016; with effect from 2017, farmers’ canes would be milled at the Uitvlugt factory; and agricultural workers at Wales Estate would be absorbed by the Uitvlugt Estate up to the extent of suitable vacancies at that location. Surplus labour would have to be made redundant.
As an outcome of the above policy actions, the large acreage of the land at WSE will be retired. I am on record as publicly stating that I am a firm supporter of the strategy to close one of the West Demerara estates to extend the life of the sugar industry. The low-cost sugar estates like Albion cannot continue to cross-subsidize Wales to their own detriment; every estate has to pull more of their own weight. So my challenge is not with the decision, but the closure process.
On my visit to Guyana during February-March this year, I visited the Wales Estate to have a first-hand download on the socio-political situation. My strategy was to go straight to the source and speak to those directly affected by this decision ‒ the front line workers. I was a guest of my diaspora colleague Rudy Jadoopat and two government officials. What I observed from my conversations with the frontline workers was that they are ‘blue mad’ at how this decision is being communicated to them – from the studios of NCN. This clearly illustrates that those who are making the decisions on WSE are making this decision in an ivory tower with very
little intellect being applied to the closure plan.
The first act of any real closure plan is direct consultation and communication with the frontline workers, and this is not being done. So the entire process has been turned on its head. This must be corrected. All of the sugar workers that I have communicated with are calling for an immediate visit to the sugar estate by the Minister of Agriculture as an important step to bring greater normalcy to a very unstable situation.
We spoke to many workers both in the field and at the factory, and every single one of them confirmed that they have not seen or heard from anyone from the office of the CEO of GuySuCo or from the office of the Minister of Agriculture since the announcement of the closure of the factory. So I am humbly bringing this to the attention of the powers that be; they ought to listen to the workers on this one.
Unfortunately the responsibility for this annus horribilis at the WSE must be borne fully by Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder; after all the proverbial buck stops at that desk ‒ for now! Regrettably, because of the way Guyana is socially constructed, the situation at Wales is exposing President Granger politically and the quicker the Minister of Agriculture takes action the better for the coalition government. This socio-political situation has to be immediately de-escalated with a visit to this sugar estate by the Minister of Agriculture to explain his plans for the geographical area.
The workers must be engaged, not antagonized. The most important constituency in facilitating a successful closure plan remains the frontline workers. I am appealing that immediate policy steps be taken to correct this grave policy indiscretion and let us bring this policy vacuum to a halt.
I have my opinions of what I observed and heard throughout the agriculture belt but that is for another time, but right now, what is needed urgently is ministerial consultation with the frontline workers of Wales Sugar Estate to acquire broad agreement on the closure plan, so that we have a plan that is executed as seamlessly as possible.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh
