In the wake of the resignation of Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Vice Chairman Anthony Vieira, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sasenarine Singh has said that he was not surprised by the move and has denied claims of collusion or deception when it comes to a field test for tractors before they were procured.
Resigned: Former GuySuCo Vice Chairman Anthony Vieira
According to Vieira in a letter to the editor, his resignation came because he was not happy with the direction in which GuySuCo was going. He wrote that GuySuCo wanted to buy 22 articulated tractors, which he did not agree with. Vieira said he had wanted the Corporation to continue using John Deere fixed-frame tractors.
“We, therefore, objected to it and the matter went to the President. The President instructed that we should only buy two and do a trial adjudicated by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the two machines were bought and the trial was done at Albion,” Vieira wrote.
He claimed that at the trial, no representatives from John Deere nor members of the Board, including himself, were present. He also claimed that during the test, a two-year-old John Deere machine was put to compete with a brand-new articulated tractor. He cited these, and other factors, in his decision to quit.
Not surprised
Meanwhile, the GuySuCo CEO, when contacted, was nonplussed by Vieira’s resignation. He also denied the former Vice Chairman’s claims, noting that in the case of the field test the top officials at GuySuCo were supposed to be absent. He noted that the test was done by independent engineers.
GuySuCo CEO Sase Singh
“I’m definitely not surprised. I wish him well. The issue at hand is the future of GuySuCo. Recognising that an independent committee, independent of GuySuCo, conducted a field trial on the two technologies over a year ago. It took a year to do. Which means they took their time to do their field trial and they came up with a conclusion,” Singh said.
“The GuySuCo executive management totally agrees with the conclusion. We can’t be concerned with minority views. The point is this is an independent committee, appointed by the shareholders.”
In light of this, Singh noted that the Vice Chairman could not be invited to the trials. In fact, Singh said that he himself was not invited. This, the CEO said, was important so that the engineers chosen to do their work could maintain their independence.
When it comes to who will replace Vieira as the Vice Chairman, Singh said that would be up to the Board of GuySuCo. According to him, the Board is expected to meet in the third week of this month.
Vieira was appointed Director of Field Operations at GuySuCo back in 2016. The Board is chaired by Pravinchandra Dave, who is also the CEO of Demerara Bank Limited.
Sweeping changes
Back in June, President Irfaan Ali had called executives and managers at the Corporation to State House, where he had met with them and expressed the need for sweeping changes at GuySuCo to improve efficiency and accelerate their timelines for mechanisation of the estates.
The President, accompanied by the Agriculture Ministry’s Director General, Madanlall Ramraj; the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Delma Nedd and Director of Projects at the Office of the President, Marcia Nadir-Sharma, met with approximately 180 senior officials of GuySuCo.
During the meeting, the President emphasised that it could not be “business as usual anymore” and there must be sweeping changes. According to him, the Corporation does not belong to any individual or group but to the country.
Despite recommendations from a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) commissioned by the then President David Granger, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration closed the Wales, East Demerara, Rose Hall and Skeldon sugar estates, sending some 7000 workers on the breadline.
When the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration assumed office in August 2020, efforts were made to reopen these estates. From October 2020 to date, over 1380 persons were hired/rehired to work in the sugar industry.
Back in February of this year, the GuySuCo CEO had assured that the often cash-strapped entity would not be a burden on the Guyana Government forever. In fact, he had said that GuySuCo would be fixed within five years.
In recent weeks, shelves have been scarce of sugar, leading to concerns from the population about an apparent shortage. However, Singh has said that the commodity is being smuggled outside the country. President Ali has said security agencies would be tasked with looking into this claim. (G3)
