…in rice
Hot on the heels of your Eyewitness querying the status of the Mexican rice Market, which was supposed to take at least 150,000 tonnes of our rice/paddy, comes news that we’re hoping to open up Cuba. Now, your Eyewitness really believes this Cuban promise won’t go the way of the Mexican chimera, for the simple reason that it was a private farmer from Region 6 who made the contact!!
The still-to-be realised market in Mexico was of course the “work” — or more accurately the “mamaguy” — of PM Nagamootoo. Politicians like Nagamootoo rush in where angels fear to tread, ‘cause they’re not really interested in the substance of the promises they make; they just want to bask in the glory of the moment, in the ANNOUNCEMENT of a POSSIBILITY that’s made out to be a CERTAINTY — never mind that the substance has to do with the lives of people.
To open that new Mexican market, your Eyewitness had pointed out at the time, there were all sorts of hurdles that had to be overcome; not least of them being Mexico’s biggest supplier of rice was next door — USA — a partner in NAFTA. The Americans have an advantage because of the transportation and tariff differential. Like most politicians, Nagamootoo’s eyes probably glazed over when the Mexicans told him about additional hurdles, like phyto-sanitary regulations etc.
So we arrive at the irony of Cuba being a new saviour to our rice industry. Has this PNC-led Government forgotten that, in its first incarnation back in the 1960s, one of its first acts was to cancel the lucrative rice contract then in place with Cuba?? That had paid prices waaaay beyond any other market, but because it was payback time for the US — which had eased him into power — Burnham insisted on enforcing their trade embargo against Cuba.
But that move was more far-reaching than the cancellation of the Cuban contract, traumatic as that was. Up to that time, Guyana was producing the medium-grain rice Latin America still prefers. The Americans forced us into their premium long-grain rice (Bluebelle?) that locked us into niche rice markets like Europe and themselves. Today most have forgotten what it was like working with our old varieties, the inputs of which, like fertiliser etc, were much less demanding, and subsequently our costs shot up astronomically.
But back to Cuba. The Government should stay clear of opening up this market, save for the macro protocols such as tariffs and the US embargo etc. Governmental involvement in general, and this PNC-led govt in particular, is the kiss of death to any commercial venture.
Especially when it involves Nagamootoo and Holder!
…in dealing with plebes
A year and a half after the Government dropped their bombshell over Wales, arbitrarily announcing its closure, GuySuCo’s finally gone into damage control mode. Their high-paid PR flak Audreyanna Thomas (any relative to Chairman Clive Thomas??) condescended to interact with the plebes at Wales. And boy did she get an earful!! All the boiled up angst inside the workers exploded – and it wasn’t pretty.
But then, what the Government and GuySuCo did to workers wasn’t pretty, was it? In fact, it’s downright ugly. But their vindictiveness hadn’t ended with the closure. They had the temerity to violate the existing labour agreement with the workers – which specifies that they can’t be forced to work more than 10 miles from their homes. To do so is constructively dismissing them, upon which they must get “severance” pay.
This the Govt had denied them – telling them they’ve been “misled by politicians”. This exposes the attitude of this govt to sugar workers: They’re incapable of knowing what’s best for them!
The PNC knows best!
…on double standards
Nandlall takes home US$2500 worth of law books — paid for by the Govt, and approved by then Prezzie Ramotar! But criminal charges are filed!
Broomes rents a house at US$2500 PER MONTH – approved by the Parliamentary Clerk — and gets a medal!!
Go figure!!
