Govt, union trade barbs over future of sugar industry

Enmore Martyrs’ remembrance

As Guyanese observed Enmore Martyr’s Day on Thursday, the premier sugar workers representative body, the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU), and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo took on each other on the future of the sugar industry.

This was at the annual remembrance rally at the monument site in Enmore, East Coast Demerara, where dozens of persons, including relatives of the martyrs, gathered to pay homage to the five sugar workers who were killed while fighting against working conditions.

Addressing the gathering, General Secretary of GAWU Seepaul Narine, noted that while the brutal killing of the sugar workers at Enmore some 68 years ago gave an impetus to the political struggles for freedom, struggles and sacrifices of sugar workers for betterment should not be downplayed, especially since that struggle continues to date.

Narine expressed concerns over the events taking place within the sugar industry and the impact they are having on the standard of living of thousands of workers and their dependents. “Here we can say with certainty that the workers struggles are continuing. New challenges have been thrown up and workers felt compelled to defend and safeguard their interests,” he stated.

The General Secretary pointed to the fact that for the first time in over 30 years, sugar workers were the only category of the State’s workers that did not receive a pay rise last year. He then went onto mention the “vexing” issue of the closure of both the Wales and La Bonne Intention (LBI) Estates, which he said threatens the jobs of one-tenth of the country’s workforce.

“Until now, neither the Unions nor the public have been informed of properly studied proposal that the authorities hope to implement on the impending closure of Wales Estate. Also of importance to our Union, is the fate that awaits the scores of workers linked to the soon to be closed LBI Estate… The Government seems not to be listening to the voice of the working people,” he remarked while recalling the resolution unanimously approved on last Labour Day by workers of the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) calling on Government not to close the estates.

According to Narine, while the sugar industry is confronted by challenges, GAWU is optimistic that it can be viable again, that is, with the adequate resources, a motivated workforce and a knowledge management.

Moreover, GTUC’s General Secretary Lincoln Lewis posited that the sugar industry has been mismanaged over the years with no concrete sustainable developmental plan to keep it afloat. He added too that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Board had become an institution for political patronage and not the development of policies to safe guard the industry or ensured the continued gainful employment for workers.

On the other hand, during his feature address, Prime Minister Mosses Nagamootoo defended the closures, outlining that the industry has been making tremendous losses and to survive it cannot rely solely on sugar anymore. He explained that plans to diversify the sector dated back since the 1980s and not 2015 as claimed.

“In the 1980s, there were plans for other crops, for aqua-culture, for fish farms, for dairy industries within the land owned by GuySuCo. A part from diversification, the option for privatisation was also on the table. After nationalisation, Booker Tate Limited was brought back to prepare the industry for privatisation; and that was after nationalisation, it was not the (David) Granger-Nagamootoo Government that was preparing it for the slaughter,” he remarked.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister remarked that his Administration does not want to put any sugar worker on the breadline, but noted that they are placed at a cross road. “We will be damned if we don’t do anything and damned if we do something but doing nothing will spell disaster (for the industry),” he noted.

Nagamootoo went on to say that the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that was conducted into the sector has warned that if nothing is done soon, not only will sugar perish but it could take the entire economy down with it.

To this end, the Prime Minister posited that the all stakeholders should play a part in reviewing the recommendations coming out of the CoI, noting that an all party consensus is need to determine the future of the sugar industry.

Moreover, the Prime Minister pointed out that in order to survive, GuySuCo existed on credit and borrowing, with the sugar debt raising from $55.3 billion in 2006 to a whopping $118 billion. He argued that this is not a cash strapped industry but one that is in up to its nose in indebtedness and so it is not wise to tread forward in this path.