Dear Editor,
The GAWU has taken note of Mr Khemraj Ramjattan’s contribution to the 2022 Budget debate in respect of the sugar industry. According to media reports, Mr Ramjattan used the parliamentary platform to continue his jaundiced criticism of the Government’s support to the industry. One report indicated that Mr Ramjattan had justified the Coalition’s miniaturization of the industry as he went on labelling State support as throwing monies into a black hole.
It is unfortunate that Mr Ramjattan continues to operate apparently with blinkers. For the erstwhile gentleman who hails from the Corentyne coast, where sugar is one of the predominant economic activities and makes a major contribution to that part of the country, it appears that Mr Ramjattan has clearly lost touch with reality, and lives seemingly in an ivory tower, disconnected from the truth. So far, the Opposition MP, despite his huffing and puffing, cannot advance any plan to address any displacement brought about by the closure of estates.
Certainly, one would have expected him and his colleagues to have developed such a plan when, like peacocks, they strutted down the corridors of power. Such plan, it appears, may have suffered a stillbirth. Mr Ramjattan yet continues to bellyache.
Of course, the importance of the sugar industry has been re-emphasised by the socio-economic study conducted by the ILO. That report empirically demonstrated the hardships that were spawned when Mr Ramjattan and his colleagues heartlessly closed four (4) estates and placed 7,000 of our Guyanese brothers and sisters on the breadline. It demonstrates the misery these Guyanese faced, and underscored the importance of the industry not only to the workers, but to the entire communities.
But Mr Ramjattan is unbothered by such facts, and chooses to live in his own wonderland. It seems that, rather than considering the contributions of the sugar industry and its potential for viability, Mr Ramjattan has doubled down on his caustic attitude towards sugar. We remain at a loss as to why anyone who holds themselves out as a leader would seek to advocate that our ordinary people be made jobless and forced into miserable lives. For us, it says a lot about the character of Mr Ramjattan and his colleagues, who spare no opportunity to denounce the Government’s support to the sugar industry.
The GAWU, as the major voice of the workers in the industry, cannot allow such highly irresponsible statements to go without challenge. We remain strong in our position that sugar remains simply too important to fail.
Yours faithfully,
Seepaul Narine
GAWU President
