Dear Editor,
It must be recalled that towards the end of Desmond Hoyte’s reign there was an obscene haste to privatise in order to make one ‘last raid’ on the treasury which was in direct contradiction of what he had announced at the PNC’s 6th Biennial Congress in 1985. He had said that, ’…the bauxite industry, the sugar industry and other strategic industries which we have nationalised in this country will never, never, never be denationalised…’
However, during its last days (1989-1992) the same PNC under Desmond Hoyte embarked on a massive privatisation campaign never seen anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. The result was that more than 40 State entities were sold for far below their book values and the current market price prevailing at the time.
For instance, the book value of Guyana Timbers Limited was stated at US$130 million but was sold for US$23.2 million! Many of these entities were sold to foreigners deliberately shunning or shutting out local investors. (Will this be the same with GuySuCo?)
It must be recalled that the privatisation of GuySuCo was derailed by the tenacious and astute leadership of the PPP and GAWU which bore fruit for the long and hard battle fought by the PPP and GAWU. They submitted a number of reasons why GuySuCo should not be privatised and in the end they won. (Will they win this time?)
But alas! That dark PNC Era has returned to Guyana in more ways than one: the economy sliding downwards, wage freeze for sugar workers, increase in the number and amount of taxes, cronyism and rampant corruption at all levels; spiralling crime, massive Government spending sprees, poor accountability, massive salary increases for Government ministers and other officials, rising costs of living, blackouts, spiralling unemployment especially among youths, witch-hunting, and all the usual failed election promises! It is clear that the APNU/AFC Government worked overtime to catch up where the old PNC left off. They have achieved this Herculean feat in just 17 months!
What is more revealing is the fact that the Coalition went through an elaborate charade to hoodwink sugar workers that they seriously feel that ‘sugar is too big to fail’ having previously made inadvertent slips which exposed their true intentions. However, the fact that Anthony Vieira is made the head of the Diversification Unit and Dr Clive Thomas as Chairman of GuySuCo and compounded by that fact that the CoI has recommended privatisation within three years, should have made it clear that sugar has already ‘failed’ and this Government is only interested in satiating its penchant for wasteful spending and corrupt deals.
In addition, this Government at the end of 2015 was ecstatic about GuySuCo surpassing its budget and just a while ago was exulting in the performance of the Skeldon Estate. This was exactly the same scenario which played out when Booker Tate was called in 1990 to manage GuySuCo under the Hoyte Administration. It must be recalled that the Hoyte Administration took full credit for the improved profitability of GuySuCo, yet a little later Kenneth King, Senior Minister of Economic Development, placed the deadline for the privatisation of GuySuCo as July 1992! This was just before the General Elections in 1992. This haste to privatise has returned with intense fervour, therefore we should expect that by 2019 just before the next General Elections that GuySuCo would be fully divested and that tilapia should be swimming on some estate lands much to the gratification of the Head of the Diversification Unit! What an achievement!
I do hope that Dr Jagdeo and the PPP will do what Dr Jagan did in 1992 and stop the divestment of GuySuCo!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
