The options being considered by the government and the proposals by the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers’ Union (GAWU) on the future of the sugar industry will form the basis of a White Paper.
This is according to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon who told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday that the decisions were made at a ministerial conference on Tuesday February 8.
He said Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder has already prepared the White Paper, which addressed government’s consideration about the future of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and that all matters pertaining to the entity are ongoing. A White Paper is usually an authoritative government report giving information or proposals on an issue.
The White Paper addresses some issues, such as the Commission of Inquiry, which dealt with sugar, the proposals by GuySuCo as well as the consultations that were held with the stakeholders, including the opposition PPP/C, and GAWU’s presentation.
The White Paper also looks at the decisions facing government currently, such as the recovery of drainage and irrigation charges from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and the transfer of some health centres and the recovery of the cost to the Government of Guyana
It also deals with issues with respect to the Skeldon estate and options with respect to diversification and the question of leased land and more importantly the question of the workers and their families.
Pressed for more details about the White Paper, Harmon said a draft would be laid in the National Assembly very shortly and the media would have access to that.
Asked if government had considered the implications that scaling back on the industry would have on foreign exchange earnings and how would it be addressed, Harmon said it was in fact discussed.
He recalled that at a previous press conference he indicated that “if the sugar industry were to continue as it is without any change, the millions of dollars that had to be spent every year going up to 2020, in the view of the Minister of Finance, (was) an unstainable proposal.”
He said too that the financial analysis would look at the export, the cost for sugar, what it brings in, what the expenses are for the estates and would encompass all of those issues.
With regards to the workers being displaced, he said the “White Paper would deal with first and foremost the welfare of the workers and the families of those workers in whatever we do with respect to the sugar industry.” He said too that they would also be dealing with the economic concerns.
Government recently concluded consultations with the opposition, trade unions and other workers’ representatives. This was after it had made a decision in January, 2016 to close the operations at the Wales estate and commence diversification ventures there and at other estates.
Sources had told this newspaper that government last Tuesday decided that the sugar industry is not sustainable and cannot be saved as is.
According to a source, government will soon roll out a plan for the ailing sector that includes keeping only three estates and privatizing the others.
The source said that Skeldon will be the first estate to be sold and government is currently looking at “the best deal possible” as it peruses proposals for a takeover by Brazilian and Indian companies among others.
“Skeldon is out. That can’t stand at all so that is a definite sell,” the source stated. There are questions about what would become of the debt incurred by the Skeldon estate in any deal.
By the end of 2018, it is anticipated that other estates will be closed: Rose Hall and Enmore. The closure of Enmore would have a severe impact on the community.
Those the government will keep and for which it has development plans are Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion.
In a 12-page proposal at the consultation, GAWU had continued to object to the closure of more sugar estates and urged government to consider modernizing GuySuCo to diversify the output from cane harvesting and cut costs.
The sugar union had said that the options presented to government by GuySuCo–retaining the status-quo, complete privatization, and estate closure and transition into non-sugar ventures–reflect a lack of interest in the industry and its employees.
It proposed too that: “Sustainability of the industry, we believe, rests with a paradigm shift from an inefficient producer of raw bulk sugar to an efficient producer of direct consumption sugars and other products.”
With regard to reducing costs, GAWU suggested that there be a comprehensive review of various activities from tillage to sugar to molasses delivery with a view to identifying inefficiencies, wastage and to come up with innovative ways to enhance the work of the entire production chain.
On Sunday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo called on sugar workers to rise up against plans to close sugar estates. He was speaking at Babu John, Port Mourant at the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the death of PPP Leader Dr Cheddi Jagan.
