Sale of Skeldon sugar factory would be cheap – Ramotar

While admitting that the Skeldon Sugar Factory did not perform as anticipated in the initial stages of operation, former President Donald Ramotar believes it is an unwise decision to put the factory up for sale as it has shown some signs of improvement.
Ramotar told Guyana Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that the factory made significant improvements in 2015, meeting all its targets. However, he blames the lack of investment on the part of the coalition Government for the decline in recent performance output at the factory.
“It looks again as if there is a deliberate attempt to shut it down, maybe to get some people rich, because I understand that one of the persons looking into the privatisation of the factory is the son-in-law of the present Prime Minister (Moses Nagamootoo),” Ramotar stated.
Ramotar, who at one time served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), told Guyana Times that because the coalition Government has been criticising the factory, it may not attract the type of investment interest that they are looking for.
“To now go and sell it, I think it is going to be more of a giveaway. Because they (Government) themselves have badmouthed the factory so much, what would any foreign investor want to pay for it? So, obviously it’s going to be a giveaway and maybe for all kinds of kickbacks will be involved in this,” he added.
Commenting on the ‘white paper’ on the sugar industry, the former President who is also a trained economist said he views the new policy as one that is aimed at deliberately moving towards permanently shutting down the industry.
He said, “It is very clear that the Government’s only intention is to close down the industry and they are deliberately moving to shut the industry down. They are making no attempts to revive the industry at all. All their measures and actions are designed to shut it down.”
Ramotar also questioned the Government’s motive behind this move to commence downsizing the industry, opining that it may be because “the sugar industry workers support the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).”
Regardless of the circumstances, the former President said that the PPP will continue to offer its support in whatever way it can, to those affected by the impending closure of the sugar industry.
“The workers can be assured that we will continue to fight for their rights and continue to defend their interests. I have no doubt about that. But right now we need not only the sugar workers, but the whole country. Sugar is not affecting just sugar workers, but this thing will have a big impact on our entire country,” he stated.

The former Head of State insists that sugar still plays an important role in Guyana’s development and contributes to Government revenues, as it remains a large earner of foreign currency.
Meanwhile, in providing view on the white paper, former Housing Minister Irfaan Ali said the new policy direction taken by the coalition Government provides a historical perspective of the challenges facing GuySuCo, which are known to all.
“The proposed solution seems to be limited to “cost cutting measures”. There is hardly any focus on revenue enhancing measures,” he pinpointed.
Ali said it is unfortunate that even though the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into GuySuCo which was prepared by Professor Clive Thomas presented several potential options, the white paper did not elaborate on the economic feasibility of any. He said it did not offer any impact assessment as well.
The former Minister noted that the Government failed to answer several pertinent questions in relation to the impact communities will have following the closure of the sugar estates and whether it will cause the rural communities to sink deeper into poverty due to the loss of income.
Importantly too, Ali said the Government must state how the sugar estate closures will impact the foreign exchange earnings and the exchange rate, and whether there will be any more loses of foreign exchange that can possibly create greater instability in the foreign exchange market.
Government, he said, must also disclose the cost to maintain the drainage and irrigation system. (Samuel Sukhnandan)