In a video featured by the Department of Public Information on April 13th, 2019, the Director presented a very unprofessional propagandist series, which is at best erroneously ridiculous. He was himself pulling figures out of the sky, and has no clue of any of the contents of which he has spoken. It was indeed more laughable as the presenter seemed to be out of touch with reality.
This article, therefore, is intended to counter the opinions he provided therein.
To this end, it is worthwhile to examine, in the most simplified manner possible, or in “layman’s terms”, the theoretical underpinning of economic policies being pursued; especially those that are particularly designed to address, in a post-mortem way, the situation regarding the unemployed sugar workers within a pragmatic framework.
The far-reaching economic implications of the largest retrenchment in Guyana’s economic history — that is, the 9,000 or 10,000 plus now unemployed sugar workers — shall be examined.
Economic policies generally constitute two dimensions: demand side policies, which are policies aimed at stimulating demand for goods and services in an economy; and supply side policies, which are aimed at increasing the supply of goods and services produced by firms operating in an economy.
It is important to note, at this point in our discussion, that ‘demand and supply’ constitute the very basic fundamental principles of economics. In the broad profession of economics, there are some economists who tend to subscribe to Keynesian economics, so called after John Maynard Keynes, a world-renowned economist who firmly believed in demand side policies being more effective to fuel economic growth; and there are also some economists who are firm believers in supply side policies. Thus, logically, one may ask which approach is more effective and, in this case, more sensible. Nonetheless, the answer to this question warrants extensive academic debates and/or discussions which are naturally beyond the scope of this article.
Having said that, it must be said that in the budget 2018 presentation, a few measures were provided therein for the divestment or restructuring of GuySuCo – designed with the intent to cushion the effects on the retrenched workers. To this end, citing the Budget Speech (2018, pg.52): “In order to ensure the continued livelihoods, a skills re-training programme is anticipated to be offered for those who choose to pursue new opportunities. Those who wish to continue with a livelihood in agriculture may see an opportunity to own their own farmland”.
In addition, there was an outreach programme held by a few key Ministers of Government with the sugar workers sometime in January of this year. In that meeting, one Minister stated that a range of foreign companies are interested in Guyana and the sugar industry — suggesting that there are going to be opportunities, as opposed to the general ideology that there is none, or limited opportunities, to absorb the sacked sugar workers.
Another suggestion put forward by the Minister is that there are many opportunities for alternative employment – referring to a shortage of plantains for fast-food chain Pollo Tropical, and to the market available for soursop and other fruits.
These policies are supply side policies, of course, and without getting into too much technicalities in regard to the underlying economic theories, is it really sensible to convey a message of hope to thousands of people to wait for companies to come invest in Guyana? A mere expression of interest by foreign companies does not mean that they actually manifest into reality.
Hypothetically, even if one of those companies decides to invest in Guyana, with the series of protocols and bureaucracies that would have to be undertaken, it would take months — possibly a year or two, or even more time — before they reach to the operationalisation and employment phases.
For example, since in 2013, and even long before then, investors were being sought after to invest in manganese mining in Matthews Ridge in the North West District; and only now, in 2018, four years after and possibly longer (if it was indeed long before 2013, when yours truly became aware of this development), the Chinese are now seeking to invest in manganese. So there will now be a manganese company in the North West District, but that, again, will take some time before the company is fully operationalised.
Hence, while waiting on foreign investors to come, how long should these thousands of people sit and wait to earn? How will they pay their monthly bills and put food on their tables? How long will the severance pay last to meet their daily needs to survive?
(To be continued next week).
