Dear Editor,
I was taken aback by a statement from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) as it sought to defend a flurry of land sales in recent days. According to the state-owned holding company, the haste arose from the need to provide immediate funding to the GuySuCo. The NICIL said it was concerned about the sugar workers’ wellbeing.
I take this explanation with a pinch of salt. I say this taking into account that NICIL, a few weeks ago, admitted that the land sales’ finalisation was necessary to meet an upcoming payment to the NICIL $30B bond which has been as the centre of controversy. So, I believe NICIL should drop its act. The reality, as I understand it, is that GuySuCo will receive whatever is left back from the land sales’ proceeds.
But if it were that the NICIL was really concerned about sugar workers and their families, it would have aggressively and proactively sought to revitalise the sugar industry with the money it apparently has in its coffers. It would not have starved the GuySuCo and reduced it to begging for money after NICIL had confiscated its assets. To put into context what NICIL has gained at GuySuCo’s expense, I have learnt that it would only require the sale of some 1,200 acres of land along the East Coast to fully finance the bond.
On this score, it appears that plans to sell East Demerara Estates have been shelved as the NICIL has decided to promote the City of Ogle. I recently saw a video presentation by NICIL depicting an artist’s rendering. Indeed, it is impressive, and one may be tempted to say it’s heaven on earth. But after looking at the video, I wonder what is there for Guyanese.
It seems the NICIL, rather than putting our people to work in a productive manner, is intent on creating a nation of servants, maids, janitors and security guards. While those are decent jobs, shouldn’t our people be able to aspire for higher rungs of the ladder? One friend even remarked to me, after seeing the NICIL presentation, whether Guyanese would be required to have a visa to step foot in the glamorous City of Ogle.
The reality is that NICIL has ignored the plight of the sugar workers and the industry. For those who lost their jobs, the heirs of the slaves and indentured servants who toiled and shaped those lands that NICIL is now selling, they remain languishing, facing hardship and difficulty every single day. I hold that NICIL should drop its feigned concern and do what is right and decent.
Yours faithfully,
Liebert Alleyne
