Enmore, Skeldon Estates still up for privatization – SPU

…not all workers will be rehired, Rose Hall still in the cold
…more decisions to be made within next eight months

While Government is prepared to reopen two estates on a limited basis, that would not happen until the estates are privatised; at which point, the future of the rehired workers would be decided by the new owners.
In an interview with this publication, Public Relations consultant Alex Graham stressed that the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) still intends to privatise the estates. There is, however, one problem — one which necessitates the reopening of the estates for its solution.

“There’s a process, (the) Pricewaterhouse valuation is taking place, and has to precede a privatisation. It isn’t going to happen in less than eight months. The problem is (that) all these estates that were closed have cane in the ground,” he related. “So the objective is to try to extract the value of the cane in the ground.”
“So it’s not a full factory-and-field operation. It is just an operation to take advantage of, and process, cane in the ground at the moment. It’s not to start a whole new operation. It’s a limited operation, so we don’t need all the people we had. It does not mean everyone goes back to work.”
Questioned on the fate of Rose Hall, Graham pointed out that the only way that estate would be reopened in addition to Skeldon and Enmore would be if all conditions present on the other estates were also present there. This means,

among other things, the presence of sugar cane. As such, he noted that Rose Hall estate’s reopening could not be ruled out.
“Based on the activities that have to be conducted, decisions will be made as to which people have to be hired. Wherever there are viable crop assets at the moment, we are seeking to secure (those) in the best way possible. And the best way possible is to try to get limited activity, so that the cane harvest is in process. It depends on a variety of circumstances,” he explained.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan was recently quoted affirming that the estates would remain operational. This, he had noted, was to make them more appealing prospects for potential investors.

The closures
Government has moved to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, as well as sell the Skeldon Sugar Factory. Its explanation for downsizing the industry has always been to cut costs. A special unit under the Ministry of Finance has been established to coordinate the divestment of these estates.
There has been persistent criticism that the decision to close the estates is political in nature. Severance payment for these workers has also become a sore issue. So when the decision to reopen was made known, it did not help to dispel the perception that the decision to close was political in nature.
While the Parliamentary Opposition has welcomed Government’s decision to have at least two sugar estates reopened soon, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has said this now proves that Government’s move to close the sugar estates was purely political in nature.
The Opposition Leader has said that President David Granger and his entire Cabinet must take full responsibility for the flip-flop policy choice, which also now indicates that the Government’s decision to close sugar estates and downsize the industry was political in nature.
And while the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) had hailed the decision to reopen certain estates, it has questioned the fate of the Rose Hall Estate. The union has pointed out that former workers of the Rose Hall Estate are in straits that are similar to what is being experienced by other sugar workers.
The GAWU has noted that these workers have to contend with joblessness and the fight to keep children in school. In fact, GAWU has said that workers have even complained of school attendance falling in the wake of the estate’s closure. The union is therefore questioning what would happen to persons who are living on ever dwindling finances.
Guyana Times understands from sources close to both the SPU and GAWU that, over the coming weeks, a process is to be rolled out that would see scores of workers from Enmore and Skeldon being re-employed.