…Jagdeo says Opposition informed after secret MoU signed
Government has denied any secrecy in a deal struck with a Trinidadian company for a possible takeover of the lucrative Skeldon Estate, a state entity under the management of the cash-strapped and heavily-indebted Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
The US$200 million Skeldon Sugar Factory
At the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman pointed out that it was just a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study.
“There is nothing here to sign the assets away, but it is just meant to conduct a study… There is no such thing as a secret deal… (and) so the mischief about a takeover and all that is just what it is – a mischief, false and should not be repeated and peddled,” the Minister noted.
He went on to quote the document which states that, “The parties agree that this MoU constitutes a strategic liaison the company and GO-Invest intended to formulate and facilitate the development of a feasibility study for an integrated sugarcane processing facility for GuySuCo’s assets and related assets in Skeldon, Guyana.”
According to Trotman, while the document has no confidentiality clause, Government is not aware that when it is entering into an MoU that it has to have members of the Opposition alongside to witness.
Guyana Times broke the story on Tuesday that Trinidadian company D Rampersad and Company Limited (DRCL) was likely to rake in major benefits from the Guyana Government, including favourable tax incentives for the development of an integrated sugarcane processing facility at the Skeldon Sugar Estate, after the MoU was inked in December for the undertaking of a feasibility study.
However, Trotman said that the Opposition, GuySuCo and the relevant unions representing sugar workers were also informed about the MoU. This was also disclosed by Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, when contacted on the matter earlier this week.
“There was a meeting when we met with the Opposition and the unions … to try to get them on board for the way forward for GuySuCo. At that meeting, the question of the MoU came up and it was provided to the Opposition to look at. The Opposition is well aware of it, because it was given to them by the Government. So, I don’t know what is the secret deal; they have the MoU,” Holder explained.
But Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo in his criticism of the agreement pointed out that Government entered into this deal without any consultations with stakeholders beforehand.
“They claim that this is without prejudice to privatisation. But if you have a secret Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with someone to assess the entity, then you are already giving one person an advantage over any person who may be interested if you decide to privatise. So they are busy working these quiet deals and one day we may wake up and find that one of the prized estates in Guyana is gone to a group that knows nothing about sugar or is on middle land without any public valuation of the land, no public tendering, but has acquired a deal by the Government,” he told media operatives on Wednesday.
The Skeldon Sugar Factory, which is located on the Estate, alone is worth US$200 million, so the total value of the Estate would amount to billions. Jagdeo contended that this was one of the many actions of the Government which he considered “totally reprehensible”.
“You do not speak with the parliamentary Opposition. You know, just recently, they called us in December, after everything else and told us they want to talk to us about it, but the secret MoU was already signed, now the story is in the news,” he outlined. The MoU was signed on December 8, 2016.
The Trinidadian company reportedly has no experience with any agricultural enterprise, and provides engineering services to the automotive and oil industries in T&T. Notable, as well, is the fact that witness to the signing was Noel Rupie Shewjattan, the owner of Auto Fashion Store on Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown. Auto Fashion Store also has no experience in the agricultural sector.
The MoU seen by Guyana Times outlines that the company will be conducting a feasibility study, which is proposed to commence on April 3. DRCL is slated to benefit tremendously if its project proposal is approved by the current coalition Administration.
According to the MoU, some expectations in the event a definitive agreement is entered into would include access to key infrastructure, favourable combination of tax incentives, and land for sugarcane cultivation and infrastructure.
The company is also set to receive reasonable approval cycles, guarantees on minimum product take-off by the Government with respect to electric power and fuel ethanol, guaranteed pricing formulae and power export provisions.
