When the fallout is examined, the govt’s sugar policy was indeed disastrous for the country

Dear Editor,

De facto Finance Minister Winston Jordan in an epistle which appeared in the July 29, Stabroek News sought to assuage concerns about the economy and obviously defend his stewardship as Minister. Mr Jordan in his missive covered several matters among which was the Coalition’s handling of the sugar industry. It is on this area we wish to offer a frank response.

In speaking to sugar, the Minister throws scorn on those who have been critical of the Government’s policy. This is most unfortunate as the realities of that policy are there to be seen. This was warned about by the GAWU and several others who presumably are labelled by Mr Jordan as the “…long list of detractors…”.

The Minister goes on saying that “…in 2014, the Wales, Skeldon and Enmore estates operated at losses in excess of $1.5 billion.” Using the Minister’s figures, what has been the loss to the economy by the closure of those three estates? Those estates, cumulatively, employed more than 5,000 workers who would have paid taxes – income and value added; their consumption activities would have supported hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses; their contributions to the NIS would have enhanced the scheme; similarly their payments of rates and taxes to their NDCs would benefit the community. Apart from that those estates maintained the drainage and irrigation system, provided primary health care to workers, their families and pensioners and they operated community centres which benefited all.

So now what do we have, we have lost those taxes; the NIS has announced that is has found itself in troubled waters; businesses in those areas have slowed to a crawl or folded up altogether and life has become miserable overall. It is instructive to point out that Government was required to allocate in excess of $1.5B to the NDIA to maintain drainage and irrigation systems in the closed estate areas.

But let’s go beyond that. Those estates produced sugar and molasses of which large quantities of foreign exchange were brought in. When they were fully operable hundreds of millions of US dollars flowed to the national coffers. Now it is a mere shadow of what is once was. And worse yet that hole which was created is yet to be filled. No wonder the foreign and gold reserves had to be liquidated.

The Minister goes on trumpeting the $30B bond for the industry. With flowery language, the Minister waxes lyrical about GuySuCo becoming “…a model to be emulated, producing about 150,000 tonnes of sugar in the medium term.” But only if all that glitters were gold. The sad fact is that the Government, in the form of NICIL, has largely withheld the financial support to GuySuCo with no project earmarked to improve the industry well-being yet to break ground. So the Minister can blow his trumpet until he gets blue in the face the fact is if his Administration were really concerned, as he says, we would have seen positive moves.

Mr Jordan, seemingly in a denigrating manner, speaks about his Government’s support for the sugar industry which is aggregated to $38 billion. This figure has to be contrasted with the $1.2 trillion the Minister and his Government spent up to the 2019 Budget. So to talk about 3 per cent of the total spending benefitting more than a 100,000 Guyanese is something the Minister should not lament. However, the fact that he has taken such a tone, in our view, seems to indicate there is more in the mortar than the pestle can pound.

The Minister at the end of his missive urges that “…evidence-based analysis…” be undertaken before arriving at conclusion. We share the Minister’s view but are, at the same time, disturbed that his Government hadn’t taken such an approach as it regards its disastrous sugar policy which has harmed the lives and welfare of thousands of Guyanese and which still can put in harm’s way thousands more.

Yours faithfully,

Seepaul Narine

General Secretary

GAWU