SPU to keep estates functional until sold

President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, has said the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) under the National Industrial & Commercial Investments Limited informed the Union that its officers are hoping to keep the Enmore, Skeldon and Rose Hall sugar factories operational until they are sold.
At the GAWU end-of-year press conference on Friday, Chand told reporters that GAWU had sought a meeting with the Special Purposes Unit, and had there been informed of the Unit’s mandate. He noted that the SPU has committed to ensuring the sale of the three estates are transparent, and has committed to keeping them operational until they are sold.
Chand informed that the SPU is yet to ink the agreement with the company chosen to seek the sale. He added that the process is expected to be completed by mid-next year, since the SPU has to assess the value of the assets owned by the estates.
“They did point out to us that while they are looking at the sale, to have the place in proper order to receive offers, they hope to continue the operations of these three estates. One: to make sure that the factories remain functional; two: to prepare the fields that were neglected by the Guyana Sugar Corporation. They hope to put the fields back in order. That is: to attend to the weeds, to have the bushes and grass cleaned, and have the canes fertilized, because they recognize if they have offers they will receive better price for the assets of GuySuCo belonging to these three estates, so they are hoping to move to that,” he noted.
He related that all the plans to keep the factories operational are premised on a grant by the Government.
Additionally, Chand said the unions are pleased by the SPU’s decision to keep the factory operational, since it means that some of the 4,000 plus workers who lost their jobs would regain employment.
“If there is a glimmer of hope that these three estates will function again, we are hoping that it can be early, and we are hoping that the SPU is able to be supported in this direction. They will have to evaluate how many workers they will need,” he noted.
“Whether they will hire as many of them which were pushed on the breadline…but there is no assurance that all the workers being displaced would be hired,” Chand added.
Earlier this month, the SPU announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers has been selected as its international financial services provider. Selected tenders were invited from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, and KPMG. However, KPMG did not submit a tender. The three firms: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte all made presentations to the NICIL/SPU evaluation team. After the presentations were concluded, the evaluation team selected PwC. All negotiations with PwC have been completed, and a contract was expected to be signed by December 18, 2017.
PWC, ranked as the most prestigious accounting firm in the world for the last seven consecutive years, will be conducting the valuation of all assets under the control of GuySuCo, in addition to providing other advisory and financial services.
After the valuation exercise, PwC will develop an investment prospectus, and will, through the SPU, distribute same to all interested investors. PWC will be tasked with ensuring a level playing field for all interested parties and stakeholders.
The Unit is tasked with the divestment (sell-off) of assets owned by GuySuCo, and received an allocation of $200 million under the Finance Ministry’s 2018 Budget.
When asked, Finance Minister Winston Jordan disclosed that the $200 million would be spent on legal and professional fees, surveys, strategic partnerships with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), travel and subsistence, as well as other expenditures.