The decision on whether to close or maintain the Wales Sugar Estate should not be guided by profitability but by humanity, which should be the hallmark of developing countries, PPP/C Member of Parliament Odinga Lumumba said during the budget debate last Wednesday.
“If GuySuCo is closed down, what would be the impact on dozens of Indo-Guyanese communities and a mixture of Afro-Guyanese communities throughout this country? Those are the fundamentals. Those are the fundamentals. The fundamental issue is humanity,” Lumumba told the National Assembly.
Lumumba drew parallels between the current state of the sugar industry under the present administration and the decline of the bauxite industry in years past while under PPP/C’s governance. He argued that the PPP/C took the stance to support those affected communities, even while they were in decline and cost millions to be maintained.
“Mr Speaker, for well over 15 years, the bauxite industry was in decline and on several occasions national figures such as the late President Desmond Hoyte had called for the close of the industry. Mr Speaker, this is the current fact and not fallacy. But the PPP government took a reverse position. We understood then the historical role that bauxite had played in the development of Guyana and what adverse effect the closing would have been on the Linden/Wismar community if thousands of persons were put on the breadline… The PPP/C, even when the economy was on the ropes, supported the Linden/Wismar industry in the tune of millions of US dollar annually,” Lumumba stated.
He reasoned that it has always been the position of leading Guyanese nationals, such as the Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Clive Thomas and Eusi Kwayana that “the sustainability of communities was more important than the capitalist notion of closing it down if there are no profits.”
“Mr Speaker, the fundamental question is that we cannot do a balancing act when it comes to Region 10 and do a dance in Linden and Wismar and once we come to the sugar belt we don’t wanna dance. If we’re going to dance, we got to dance everywhere,” he added.
Last month, the sugar unions—the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) along with the Guyana Labour Union (GLU)—made another plea for the government to reconsider its plan to end cultivation at the estate.
“Our Unions, the workers and many Guyanese, among others, have strongly decried this decision imposed in January, this year (2016) by the APNU+AFC Government without consultation with us (the Unions) and the workers who will be gravely affected. It is widely felt with justification that the closure would have disastrous effects on the workers and their families, cane farmers, the communities of the West Bank of Demerara and, naturally, the economy of the country. It is indeed regrettable that the Government and its Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) are not listening to the anxious cries of many of our citizens and rescind the infamous decision,” they said.
“We, the Unions operating in the industry again strongly urge the Government and GuySuCo that it is not too late to re-consider the closure of Wales Estate decision and thus avoid the harsh repercussions the closure will have on hundreds and hundreds of workers and their families; on numerous farmers, and on small vendors, apart from other effects,” they added.
