Dear Editor,
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) wishes to respond to a letter by Mr Donald Ramotar that was published in the Stabroek News on Saturday, May14, titled ‘The government is discriminating against Africans who support the PPP/C’.
In the letter Mr Ramotar stated that, “also, there are reports of the many highly trained technical people/Indo-Guyanese who are being fired at GuySuCo without reason.” The corporation finds this statement by Mr Ramotar to be bordering on recklessness since it is baseless and basically an untruth. In addition, based on the nature of the statement we are taken aback that a person of Mr Ramotar’s calibre and whose duty is above that of the ordinary person would write so loosely and carelessly and have these expressions published.
Mr Ramotar further stated that, “At the same time, old retirees, some almost in their nineties are being employed with super salaries. It is reported that these persons are guaranteed a take-home pay of $1.2 million per month.” The[r]e are two consultants in factory operations, one in Agriculture and one in the Human Resources Department. The gross pay for these consultants plus vacation allowance and gratuity will cost the corporation $140 million per year. This does not include expenses for vehicle, fuel, security and domestic staff.
“This is a clear case of jobs for the boys.”
Once again, the corporation is surprised that Mr Ramotar would make the above statement. One would have thought that Mr Ramotar because of his special experiences in national development, strategic business planning and the requirements for re-engineering an industry, such as the sugar industry, would have a greater appreciation for the critical need to engage the appropriate expertise and the best available resources if one is serious about re-organizing and developing a resilient business or industry.
We hereby take this opportunity to provide Mr Ramotar with some useful insights on the vision and direction for the GuySuCo we are re-creating.
The reality is that GuySuCo is currently challenged by both external and internal forces; this challenge nevertheless, has presented a rare opportunity for the corporation to be re-birthed, be re-configured and re-engineered, so that it can become a resilient business. New skills and expertise are being recruited and developed from within. The organizational psychology and sociology would have to change. Basically, we would have to change the way we think and do business.
The management of the corporation is in the process of reviewing and revising the psychology, behaviour and strategic focus of the corporation, since we have recognized that we cannot continue to do the same things and expect different results. In some cases, we have recognized that mere change will not be sufficient; we would need to have profound change.
Yours faithfully,
Audreyanna Thomas
Senior Communications Officer
Guyana Sugar Corporation
