Our Union recognised the contentions of former Business Minister, Mr Dominic Gaskin regarding the re-opening of Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore estates which appeared in the September 04, 2020 Kaieteur News.
It is interesting that the former Minister has chosen to talk about having a plan regarding the re-opening of the estates. While we share his view, he may choose to edify whether there was any plan regarding the sugar industry as a whole during his stint in Government. For us and certainly for the thousands who were pushed into misery as their lost their jobs and their income sources vanished, there couldn’t have been any plan.
Mr Gaskin may want to say that there was a plan to retain three (3) estates and improve their viability. But again we have serious doubts whether such a plan really existed. In fact, our sustained requests to obtain a copy of that ‘plan’ has been in vain. Moreover, the entire nation have seen how much the retained estates have regressed from producing 113,477 tonnes sugar in 2015 to an expected 77,000 tonnes sugar this year. We should remind the nation that Mr Gaskin’s government promised that sugar production would reach 150,000 tonnes this year. They paraded that $30B was borrowed to ensure that the estates retained would be revitalized and made sustainable. However, the proof is in the pudding. And, on this score we saw recently President Irfaan Ali pointing out that an assessment was being conducted as it appeared there was inefficient use of the bond proceeds. Indeed, the President is correct as not one project earmarked from the bond proceeds has even broken ground while millions are paid out as interest.
But since Mr Gaskin wants to talk about plans the reality is that the entire industry could have been saved. Opportunities in co-generation, refined and packaged sugar, distilling, and value-added molasses were identified and provided a platform for a sustainable future. Several studies have testified to the usefulness of these initiatives but they were for all intents ignored. Even the Commission of Inquiry appointed by Mr Gaskin’s government recommended that these ventures be pursued but no heed was paid. The fact is that no matter the plan which envisaged the retaining of all of the sugar estates would not have received the support of the Coalition. We make this point as we draw attention that our Union provided a road map to the then Government during the early days of 2017. This too was ignored and never saw the light of day. It goes to show that we can have the best plan in the world, but if there is a lack of commitment by the powers-that-be nothing can really materialize.
Mr Gaskin, during his interview, expressed that the industry was not profitable as he denounced the re-opening plans. It is this mentality that distinguishes leaders. The reality while the sugar industry was not financially profitable at this time, though it can be nurtured to that state, but from an economic point of view it brought significant windfalls to the economy at several levels. We have seen the NIS complaining about the loss of thousands of contributors as a result of the closure and the effects it has on the Scheme. We saw as well the billions Central Government is incurring to undertake drainage in the close estate areas. We saw too loss to village economies which depended on sugar worker and their families consumption. Similarly, we should not forget the losses to the GRA or the NDCs. The truth of the matter is that the narrow, blinkered outlook held by the previous administration and their inability to see the entire picture has resulted in significant damage inflicted to the industry.
The former Minister pointed out too that talk is cheap as he continued his lamentations. He must have been referring to the utterances of him and his former colleagues during the 2015 elections campaign. At that time, sugar workers were promised 20 per cent increase but they were pauperized and pushed into poverty. The Coalition said then it had all the answers to remedy the difficulties in sugar and, without ambiguity, it committed that no estate would be closed. So indeed, Mr Gaskin’s Government demonstrated that talk is cheap as it remorselessly closed estates.
We saw too that Mr Gaskin arguing for a comprehensive plan for job creation in the closed estate communities. This ought to be an automatic consequence of the closure decisions. What we saw in reality, during the sojourn of the Coalition, was that those in the sugar belt left on their own and made to figure out how to piece their lives back together without even the scantest of concern from the then Government. It is almost unimaginable that former President David Granger not once visited these communities to see how these Guyanese were fearing. So it’s easy to talk now, but when he was in the driver’s seat nothing was done.
The reality is that many of the former sugar workers eagerly anticipate the re-opening of estates. They have suffered greatly over the last years and for some their lives may never be able to go back to what it was previously. We hold that indeed a credible plan is necessary but we believe that sugar’s best days are ahead of it. With a supportive Government many feats can be realised and the industry can go on to make an even more meaningful contribution.
