We now find ourselves in what many have described as the “most wonderful time of the year”. In a matter of days, our people will celebrate the Christmas and the New Year holidays. It is a time of the year when generally everyone seeks to spend some time with their loved ones. It is a time when we look to enjoy a special meal and the niceties of life. It is a time when the little ones in our lives look forward to a special treat and receiving even small tokens of joy. Today, while many Guyanese look forward to this season of merriment, joy and happiness, for thousands in the sugar belt they face yet another season of grim, sadness and despair. This year, like the previous four (4) Christmases, President Granger and his Government, like the Grinch, has stolen the joy from the children, has put households in despair and have depressed entire communities.
The President, during an interview with Mr Neil Marks recently, was asked pointedly whether his Government could intervene to grant sugar workers a pay rise taking into account that the workers last pay adjustment was since 2014. Rather than addressing the question specifically, Mr Granger, like many of his colleagues, went out on a tangent. He said that his Government had given the industry $1B per month for some months and that was all it could do. This is utter nonsense from Mr Granger who continues to repeat this drivel over and over, apparently, without any shame.
But let’s consider what the President told Mr Marks. In life of the Granger Administration, his Government allocated to spend, using the National Budget estimates, $1,239,743,900,000. Of that magnificent sum, the sugar industry was allocated $36B or 2.9 per cent of all expenditure. We should not forget that the industry, at that time, had employed some 17,000 persons. Directly and indirectly sugar benefitted approximately 100,000 Guyanese. In other words, Mr Granger is saying that all he could afford to give 13.3 per cent of the population was less than 3 per cent of all the monies his Government spent. The inequity is glaringly blinding.
But while the President seems to decry the monies the Government has provided to the sugar industry, it is important to know that the Ministry of the Presidency, has an astounding budgetary allocation of $12.4B this year. That is, coincidentally, over $1B per month. We ask does that the President’s Ministry has as great of an impact as the sugar industry. But here is another dose of reality, under Mr Granger’s leadership, the cost of Central Government has ballooned by 64 per cent between 2015 and 2019. In other words, it costs us – the Guyanese people, about $200M per day or $8M per hour to run the Government. In the tenure of the Granger Administration, the Guyana Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) in considering the 2019 Budget concluded that the Coalition has unleashed a “fiscal assault on agriculture”. The Institute, pointed out, that the closure of estates has seen many falling “…into poverty or deeper poverty and are struggling to feed their families on subsistence activities.” The GPBI concluded that the ‘assault’ waged has more political rationales than economic or social considerations. The organization recognized that “…the [agriculture]sector is the largest source of income for poor and low-income families and is vital to ending poverty and realizing ‘the good life’”.
The President, in the interview, reminded of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) established by his Government in 2015. What Mr Granger didn’t say was that his Government ignored many of that Commission’s recommendations to make the industry viable. The Administration even ignored a fundamental recommendation not to close any estate. So for President Granger to speak about the CoI is sheer poppycock. He also spoke about the State Paper on sugar. Apart from the closure of estates, what else has the Government implemented?
Mr Granger unbelievably said many of the 7,000 sugar workers his Government displaced have been re-employed. We wonder where he got that information from. Whoever may have shared this information with him has obviously misinformed the President. We are aware that some workers have secured jobs though their pay levels and conditions-of-work are inferior to what they enjoyed in the sugar industry. But for too many, they remain right where Mr Granger put them, on the breadline. Some from their ranks survive undertaking odd, one-off, menial jobs where job security is absent and their NIS contributions remains at a standstill. They are literally left to be exploited and are at the mercy of the Good Lord. Our Union knows of instances where qualified, skilled workers have been reduced to labourers and porters. Is this the ‘Good Life’ that Mr Granger promised us all?
The President also informed that lands not retained for use by Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt Estates would be privatized through the State Land Sales Commission. This is a stark departure by the Granger Administration. The September 05, 2018, Kaieteur News reported that the President said “[i]t is unlikely that Government will contemplate selling sugar lands at the closed estates that are up for privatisation in any wholesale manner”. The newspaper quoted the President as saying “[t]he idea is that we will not sell off the family jewels…”. It seems that Mr Granger is indicating that his Government’s planned privatization of three of the closed estates is off the table and he is preparing to sell the ‘family jewels’ as he puts it. Such a policy we contend is not in the interest of Guyanese now and in the future.
Mr Granger also said that newer forms of sweeteners are displacing sugar consumption globally and thus the necessity to move away from sugar production. Again, it appears the President is not au fait with the facts. The trend has indicated that global sugar consumption has been rising over the years. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has indicated that it estimates global sugar consumption to rise to 176.6 million tonnes next year up from 169.4 million tonnes in 2016. Moreover, Mr Granger should know that the International Sugar Organisation (ISO) informs that “[s]ugarcane, on average, accounts for nearly 80% of global sugar production.” The ISO also tells us “[s]ugar crops offer production alternatives to food, such as livestock feed, fibre and energy, particularly biofuels (sugar-based ethanol) and co-generation of electricity(cane bagasse).” It appears that the President is limited in his views on sugar though the Sugar CoI had recommended the Guyanese industry take a similar path. Maybe it is he wasn’t clear on what the CoI said.
Mr Granger went on to speak about the NICIL $30B bond for the industry which he said is aimed at re-balancing the industry. On this matter, he should be the last to speak. The President in June, this year, during his visit to Albion Estate, said “[w]e are going to ensure that that money comes in a timely manner and in sufficient amounts.” It is now December, and the money has stopped coming altogether according to GuySuCo. Mr Marks, indicated to the President, that the bond proceeds were not intended for wages and salaries. Again President Granger averted the question and spoke about the Management of the industry which our Union has some concerns about.
Mr Granger is seeking to avoid, like the plague, the sugar industry and the situation of the sugar workers. Prior to the election as President, in an interview, he said “…we want to save the sugar industry, we want to save the livelihoods of sugar workers…”. Today he is in the driver’s seat and his actions are much louder and clearer than his words. Indeed, his deeds speak a mouthful. Today while he refuses to even answer whether his Government could assist the sugar workers, his response is unequivocal. He has not a care for the sugar workers, their families and their communities. This year while he and his big wigs will have a happy and jolly time, the workers and their families and their communities will once again be darkened. Their hopes of a bright season dashed as the Grinch, Mr Granger, has once again stolen Christmas from them.
