When I read and listen to what has been said about the local sugar industry, my mind wanders to its dark origins. The history of how sugar emerged in this part of the world, is no secret. The sweet poison killed the dreams of those forced into the cultivation of sugarcane, its harvesting and processing, but made wealthy the oppressors and many who followed.
When I think about sugar, I think of the scarred hands, sun-burnt and weary bodies of our ancestors. It was for sugar that many were kidnapped and enslaved. It was for sugar that many indentured labourers arrived on boats of dreams when those once enslaved were set free and many left the plantations.
Unless I am a reincarnated plantation prisoner who has forgotten, I was not there, but ancestral memories are still with us. Like empaths feeling the trauma of hundreds of years before they existed. I think about the lingering energies of the ones who perished under the burden of sugar. I imagine restless souls in limbo because no atonement was made for what was done to them in the name of sugar.
Has refined sugar ever really been good?
Whether we think it is mismanagement, neglect or changes in the world market that made sugar an unprofitable industry now in Guyana, we must also wonder if we have been witnessing the results of the karmic wheel of life? Are the energies of the restless ones whose blood and sweat soaked those fields standing in the way of things? Are their energies impeding the progress of the industry and therefore sending a message that it is time to end the journey on the long bitter-sweet road we walked for those sweet brown crystals? While it is not slaves and indentured servants who now plant and cut the cane and process sugar, the unequal distribution of wealth has affected every aspect of life in Guyana. The plantation owners enriched themselves with free labour from those who were enslaved and indentured labourers were given a little; reparations have never been given to the children of those who were dehumanized and had their backs broken in the name of sugar. Inequality still exists today.
Some believe that the sugar industry should have been restructured some time ago. That innovative skills and talents should have explored viable options to keep the industry profitable.
Many have voiced that it is foolish to fund an industry that is over 70 billion dollars in debt. One may argue that the billions of dollars that has been injected into the sugar industry could have funded other industries. Perhaps the funds could have gone into growing more food. Perhaps the funds could have gone to expanding agro-processing. There will never be a world where products like fruits, vegetables and grains are not needed. Perhaps funds could have gone into opening other manufacturing companies. Perhaps increase our exports. I think about how we were once the breadbasket of the Caribbean. Perhaps the funds could have gone to providing other skills training to empower those who know nothing but sugar; more options to evolve from the sweet hollow embrace.
But one cannot deny that it is the sugar industry that sustained many families for many decades. One can even understand the romanticization of this industry and the fear of failure by those who know nothing but sugar and those who still believe that the industry can be saved. Many sugar workers made sacrifices for their children to progress beyond the cane fields and the processing. Sugar is the foundation on which many families continue to stand.
But with all the good the industry has done, refined sugar itself has never really been entirely good.
It is no secret that refined sugars are linked to many diseases. In this era of enlightenment much of what was thought to be good in the past has been revealed to be detrimental to our health. And refined sugar is at the core. While the natural sugars in foods like fruits are there to help sustain us, the dangers of over-consumption of refined sugars are known. Sugar has been linked to conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure. Often, a silent culprit. The sweet seduction in many processed foods controls many people. For some it is like a drug. But in this age of enlightenment many are finding healthier alternative sweeteners.
One may question the sanity and motives of those who believe that the sugar industry can once again be profitable. Delusions are not facts. While Guyanese continue to quietly exist in the illusions, ignoring the reality about where we are by trying to recreate where we were, the world continues to evolve and adjust to the present order.
It is the hopes and dreams of the people we must first consider. It is the hopes and dreams of the people that built this land. We can never leave people jobless without a plan. Without the people all that would be left is a space for possibilities. The egos and agendas of men should not distort the wellbeing of the nation.
I empathize with the ordinary man who knows nothing but working in the sugar industry and wants to see the industry revived to its former glory in Guyana. Perhaps many are not aware of cost to produce sugar in Guyana compared to the world. Perhaps they have been lied to. For many, it is all they know. But wisdom must also be exercised in the way forward.
According to sources Guyana produces sugar at an average cost of US0.35 a pound while the world market price average is US0.16 a pound. I am no expert, but with such high production costs, how long can we sustain it without continuing the bailouts? Perhaps the time has long passed, and the reopening of sugar estates will not change the prospects. Investments have been made to modernize sugar estates such as packaging plants, but what has changed? Time will tell.
