Dear Editor,
In a recent press release by the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union (Nov. 24, 2019), there were some startling revelations on GuySuCo’s production performance. It was noted that factory breakdowns are a major contributor to poor performance where the three operating factories Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt recorded 420 hours, 122 hours and 119 hours of lost time respectively. This lost opportunity time means definite extension of production into the rainy season assuming that canes estimated are present in fields. Other spin-offs include increased operating cost and reduced maintenance time, among other things.
Editor, factory reliability and efficiency are direct responsibilities of the Corporation’s Factory Operations Department (FOD). This is a technical department that is responsible for oversight and direction of all programmes geared to keep factories reliable, efficient, relevant and cost effective. If we go back to Govt’s CoI report of Oct., 2015, Vol. 1, Page 68 paragraph 2, it states: “A restructured Factory Operations hierarchy is overdue for better work distribution and effectiveness. Management training is sadly lacking and must be given priority to arrest declining standards in all areas of factory management.” As a direct response to this CoI finding, Government maybe with good intentions, employed the two commissioners that diagnosed this problem and positioned them in the FOD. Upon their assumption to office, three other super salaried engineers/process experts were imported from the Caribbean while a few other locals were assigned engineering and processing roles within the department. In short, the department increased its head count by about seven persons or so at a time when its scope of work reduced by 57% with the closure of four factories. Notably, the new formation in the department consisted of about 70% geriatrics, which is a new feature of the Department in recent decades. The new management team including the persons who diagnosed the declining standards of the FOD did not add any value since their appointment. The performance statistics confirm this. In fact, it appears that standards in all areas in factory management have declined even further while the factory management cost have increased. There can be no excuse from this department. The buck stops with them.
The GuySuCo may respond to my commentary and I take this opportunity to urge the Corporation to include in its response, factory performance data and achievements (such as factory efficiency, sugar recovery, sugar quality, cost of production, value added production, etc.) of each factory along with salaries and benefits of FOD staff members over the last five years. Numbers and trends tell a story, not political statements and old rhetoric.
Yours faithfully,
Sookram Persaud
