Granger nixes SPU’s choice for GuySuCo Chairman

…appoints agriculture specialist

Five months after Special Purpose Unit (SPU) Head Colvin Heath-London was tipped to become the new Chairman of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and subsequent to a notice published in the media naming him and several other persons as members of the new Board, those names have been discarded for an entirely new board.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon announced officially the new members of the Board for the now downsized Corporation. Harmon told the media on Monday at his post-Cabinet press briefing that Cabinet recently granted its approval of a new Board of Directors for GuySuCo which will be chaired by John Dow.
Other persons appointed to the new GuySuCo Board include: John Browman, Richard Cumberbatch, Paul Cheong, Fritz McLean, Vishnu Panday, Ramesh Persaud, Nowrang Persaud, Roy Hanoman, Claude Housty and ex-officio member Harold Davis Jr.
The Board’s tenure is two years and it will expire on August 31, 2020.
Subsequent to the White Paper on Sugar being laid in the National Assembly, it was announced that Finance Minister Winston Jordan and his Ministry would take over responsibility for the sugar industry and the divestment process.
Jordan said in April that contrary to the paid full-page advertisements about a new board headed by Heath-London and a Cabinet subcommittee’s decision, there was no new board for GuySuCo and consequently, no new Chairman.
According to the advertisement, which was published on March 14, 2018, the new Board was approved by Cabinet on February 26, 2018, and the appointments were supposed to take effect on March 1. There had long been rumours of a split at the executive level over the decision, however.
The old Board of Directors had comprised economist, Dr Clive Thomas as the Chairman and Frederick Singh as the Secretary. The Directors were: Louise Bouyea, Fritz McLean, John Browman, Nigel Cumberbatch, Sharon Roopchand-Edwards, Nazim Ali, and George Jervis.

A list of the next proposed Board was circulated in sections of the media. On that list were Komal Singh, Verna Adrian, Fritz McLean, Rosh Khan J), George Jervis, Arianne McLean, Vishnu Panday, Annette Arjoon-Martins, and two GuySuCo executives.
Jordan later denied there was a political split between the Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on the issue. He acknowledged, however, that the subcommittee’s decision died a swift death when the full Cabinet overturned the proposed appointments.
Stressing that this was within the Cabinet’s right, Jordan related that the full Cabinet deferred the decision until it could get more information on the nominees and thus rendered the appointments null and void.
President David Granger had said he wanted the new members to be experts, so they could effectively lead the now downsized industry into profitability. And just last month, Government announced the appointment of Davis Jr as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GuySuCo.
Nevertheless, the coalition Administration has taken considerable flak from various stakeholders for its indecisiveness in setting up the new Board and also for the operation of GuySuCo in general.
Last year, Government announced plans to downsize the local sugar industry and divest the Corporation’s assets. To this end, SPU, which falls under the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), was set up to oversee the divestment plans by way of either selling off or restarting factories with minimal staff to attract investors – both domestic and foreign.
The SPU is currently managing the now closed Skeldon; East Demerara (Enmore); Rose Hall and Wales estates.
However, there have been reports of an apparent tug-of-war within the coalition of recent over the sugar industry, parts of which are now under the control of the SPU for the divestment process.
In fact, reports had surfaced about disagreements allegedly between Ministers from the two coalition parties regarding the chairmanship and members of the GuySuCo Board. The last GuySuCo Board expired back in February.