Dear Editor,
There is merit to Robin Singh’s argument. Keep GuySuCo running at an annual subsidy of $US40 million. Spinoff benefits: 8,000 employees get a weekly paycheck; machinery being used will not fall into disrepair/unusable; trenches and kokers will not become clogged and cause flooding etc. If you shut down the estates, thinking you are saving $US40 million a year, consider the damages (put a dollar #) that result from that shut down (SN Aug 11th).
This is a merited argument – and must be taken in account when making public policy. This is a state-owned, not a private/shareholder-owned business. The latter would be shut down without delay simply because it is losing money. No other consideration will be necessary. I have written several letters and blogs on GuySuCo over the last 10-years. Here is my take:
(1) A decision must be made sooner or later. No govt can sustain this kind of loss every year with no end in sight; given that all the studies show the business will not ever become solvent or sustainable again. [Cost of production 40 cents a pound vs world market price 17 cents].
(2) Guyana has another very successful business – rum manufacturing. Sugar/molasses is a vital input to make rum. Hand-over two or three estates to the Rum manufacturing companies for a lease fee of $1 per acre, and the sugar factory for $1. Check back with the Rum companies after 10-years to see how they are doing. This way, there would be no damage to the infrastructure – trenches, dams, etc., and the govt saves the annual subsidy of $US40 million.
Workers: there is a shortage of workers in Guyana. Guyana will have to do wholesale importation of workers for the new oil economy. Govt/Business partnership should develop a plan to retrain the workers – welders, plumbers, bricklayers, solar technicians, truck drivers (or whatever skills are needed) to fill the estimated 50,000 new job vacancies created in the new economy.
The last CEO, Sasenarine Singh, had had 4-years on the job, trying to make GuySuCo solvent and sustainable. He is an experienced turn-around artist. He should be asked to write a Report on GuySuCo and provide clues on whether GuySuCo can be turned around and become a sustainable State-owned business. If CEO Singh refuses to share his knowledge of the operations of GuySuCo, the Gov’t of Guyana should immediately begin to phase out the sugar industry.
Sincerely,
Mike Persaud
