Noting the production of 87,875 tonnes of sugar for the year up to December 13, 2020, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) says it underlines the enormity of the task facing state-run sugar corporation GuySuCo in its bid to turn around the industry.
“This year’s production will in all likelihood eclipse 2019’s [90,246-tonne] production as the worst production in GuySuCo history. Our Union a few weeks ago had warned of this possibility when we had considered the data we had received at that time,” GAWU said in a statement last Wednesday, while reiterating that the state of affairs is no surprise to the union given the “terrible mis-management” that plagued the industry over the last few years.
The union recalled that not long ago, it had cause to publicly disclose that canes adjacent to the residence of the Blairmont Estate Manager were overrun by bushes and weeds.
“We had cause then, as we do again, to sound an alarm as we have to wonder what would be the state of canes that are out of the eyesight of the manager. This situation is rather not the exception but too often the norm. This is simply disappointing and a serious cause for concern,” it further lamented.
Against this background, the union said last year’s production demonstrates the enormity of tasks that are before the new GuySuCo Board and Management. It noted GuySuCo’s recent announcement of its plans to produce 97,000 tonnes of sugar this year. While calling it an improvement from the “disaster of 2020,” GAWU said it is hopeful that the target can not only be realised but surpassed though it is hardly a production to be ecstatic about. “The industry has much greater potential and there is urgent need to grasp with the challenges to bring about the desired return. These are matters we will continue to eagerly follow and when necessary offer our comments. We have seen the disaster of estates closure and we need not nor want that again,” it added.
The union also welcomed the government’s reopening of the closed Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara Estates, which it said has restored optimism among workers. The estates had been closed by the former administration. GAWU called the reopening of the states a noble attempt to reverse what was considered the largest retrenchment exercise in post-independent Guyana and a concerted effort to erase that dark blot in our history. “Already, several hundred workers have been re-engaged and many more are expected to become employed over the coming months. The dark clouds that have hovered over those estates since 2017 have dissipated and there is now a renewed sense of optimism. For many workers and their families they have begun to piece their lives back together though for some, life may never go back to what is once was,” the union said.
