Dear Editor

THERE were public calls for high-level national conferences to find a national agreement on ways to save and revitalise the sugar industry of Guyana to make it a viable and profitable industry again, from the growing of sugar canes to the manufacturing of sugar and its by-products.
It is welcome news that the National Assembly will soon engage in a debate on the future of the sugar industry. The nation expects mature and serious encounters in the National Assembly, free of rancour and abuse of each other, and from the partisan blame game for cheap political points. This is a test for all the political parties and members of the Assembly and the Government to debate, and then to confer in good faith in a Select Committee to find common ground on the future of the industry, putting partisan political considerations aside. Failure to arrive at a national consensus by the National Assembly and the Government would be a source of grave disappointment to all in this country.
The members of the National Assembly must take into consideration the Government’s Commission of Inquiry report into the Guyana Sugar Corporation,(GUYSUCO), October 2015. They must give serious consideration to the recommendations on the way forward for this vital industry, in particular recommendation (iv), which states “… the COI does not recommend the closure of any estate at this time.”
The National Assembly must take into account recent studies and the views and positions of various stakeholders and put all on the table in the National Assembly, including the view that the industry has the capacity to increase its production by at least one hundred thousand tonnes (100,000) of sugar annually, which can turn around the industry. This must be considered among others to find a broad-based national consensus to restore the viability of the sugar industry. Serious consideration must also be given to the contributions of the sugar industry to the national treasury of foreign currencies over the years. The industry is still a significant foreign-currency earner.
Many knowledgeable and experienced persons on the sugar industry are convinced that the industry can be saved and returned to profitability. This requires determination and the right decisions from the best practices in the cultivation of sugar canes, to producing sugar and its potential for value-added products, and other revenue-earning ventures flowing from the sugar industry.
The challenge is for the National Assembly and the Government to find common ground on the future of this industry, taking into account the livelihoods of workers and their families, and adjoining communities of sugar estates.
The citizens of this nation are looking to the political leaders to find acceptable solutions to the challenges facing the future of the sugar industry in the interest of all and the national good,

Regards,
Joshua Singh