–says it fell apart under PPP, putting 5,000 on the breadline between 1992 & 2015

PRESIDENT David Granger, on Sunday, assured thousands of Berbicians that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government will return the once ailing sugar industry to profitability, if re-elected for a second term in office.
Standing before thousands of supporters, drawn from every nook and cranny within the East Berbice-Corentyne District, the Head of State, in his address at the APNU+AFC Elections Rally at Rose Hall, said his Government is cognizant of the challenges faced by sugar workers.

“I know the pain the sugar workers feel, but the sugar industry the PPP gave us could not be sustained,” he said.

His Administration, he assured the residents, will do everything in its power to protect and preserve the industry by keeping estates such as Albion fully functional.
In 2017, the APNU+AFC Administration took a decision to consolidate cultivation at the Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt Estates in an attempt to reduce losses and increase profitability within sugar industry.

That decision took effect in 2018 when the Wales Estate was merged with the Uitvlugt Estate and reassign its cane to the Uitvlugt Factory. The estates at Albion and Rose Hall were also amalgamated. Under the new construct, there are three estates and factories, Blairmont on the West Bank Berbice, Albion-Rose Hall in East Berbice and the Uitvlugt-Wales estate in West Demerara.

The decision to ‘right-size’ the sugar industry, he said was necessary, explaining that it was on the verge of a collapse when the APNU+AFC took office in May, 2015.
“If you come from Demerara and you pass along Diamond, it is the PPP that shut down Diamond. The PPP sent home over 5000 sugar workers during their period in office,” he noted.

President Granger said, while his Administration is investing in the three remaining estates, the Skeldon Factory – one of the largest projects to have been executed by the previous administration – cannot be salvaged. He said to invest in that factory would be to “waste” taxpayers’ money.

“The sugar industry was in difficulties, even when we were in opposition, the APNU+AFC were helping to bail out the sugar industry but unfortunately that blue monument at Skeldon cannot be bailed out, it scrapped,” President Granger said.
To cushion the impact, he said his Administration has been and will continue to work with sugar workers and those who would have been displaced. “The East-Berbice Corentyne sugar based on Albion will be preserved and protected by the APNU+AFC Administration,” he iterated.

Many of the sugar workers, who were affected as a result of the closure estates, have regained employment, the President noted while assuring those present that provisions would be made for those still seeking employment.
He reported that Cabinet has already signaled its no objection for the establishment of a State Land Resettlement Commission for the distribution of lands to former sugar workers for agriculture, commercial and domestic use.
“The APNU+AFC coalition is going to protect the livelihoods of the people now living in the squatter settlements and they will protect the livelihoods of the workers who are no longer working in the sugar industry to make sure they can get gainful employment by working for themselves or working for other people on those abandoned sugar cane lands, this is what we are doing for the people to help workers and households in the East Berbice-Corentyne,” he said to loud rounds of applause.

The President noted too that through the Government’s Rural Agricultural Infrastructure Development (RAID) Programme, persons interested in farming, especially sugar workers, would be given the necessary support.

“This Region alone has 205 villages… and we are going to protect the livelihoods of farmers in all those villages under the Regional Agricultural Infrastructure Development (RAID) programme. We will help farmers get tools and equipment; we will help farmers with their cultivation; and we will ensure that [in] Region Six…we build an agriculture powerhouse not for a few villages but for all of the residents of this region.”

President Granger, however, cautioned the massive crowd that in order for these projects, including cash grants for families, to succeed and benefit Berbicians, not only does the coalition need to return to office but to win the regional elections by an absolute majority. He said for too long, the government’s plans are being stymied by the regional administration.