The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) reportedly has been forced to reduce its annual target to 264,063 tonnes of sugar from 280,000. While this is unfortunate and will put increasing pressure on the corporation’s financial situation, it was inevitable because of the prolonged rains which are still with us. In fact, because of this the crop actually began later than planned.
This places the industry in a delicate situation and therefore implies that there must be optimum efficiency at the level of management and production. There can be no room for inefficiency, poor management and disruptions of work. Of vital importance is a stable industrial relations climate which in the recent past plagued the industry. On this note it was encouraging to see that the strike at LBI Estate last week was amicably resolved in an expeditious manner and therefore there was a minimum work stoppage. What was noticeable and commendable in this instance was that the newly appointed CEO, Mr. Paul Bhim went on the ground to meet with the workers. This was a clear break from the old order whereby some past CEOs adopted the “armchair general” approach. No doubt Mr. Bhim’s presence on the ground sent a latent message to the workers that he is genuinely concerned about and committed to workers problems and issues and by extension the efficiency and future of the industry.
Should this approach be sustained by the CEO then we will definitely witness a more stable industrial relations climate which will be extremely healthy for the industry.
In this regard, it would be useful to note that sugar workers have complained in the past that when they experience serious problems, members of the top level management are not visible. Instead, they rely on information relayed to them by the lower level managers which in many instances do not represent a true picture of the situation on the ground, consequently this leads to a misunderstanding of the workers issues resulting in aggravated industrial relations and strikes and work stoppages and all the adverse effects of such a situation.
On the other hand the workers and union need to act responsibly and with restraint because strikes and work stoppages in the present situation could in the long term cause more hurt instead of bringing benefits.
Dialogue should be the preferred method of settling industrial disputes with strikes being used as a last resort.
In this regard, it is good to hear from the Deputy CEO Rajindra Singh that on the industrial relations front, the corporation had less strikes in the first months of 2010. He said GuySuCo was working very closely with the union to ensure that efficiency at all levels is maintained and spoke also of training of staff to ensure maximum levels of efficiency. He also spoke of training of the company’s workers at all levels.
Also it was encouraging to hear that GuySuCo by the second half of 2011 the capacity of the company to supply the cane required to run the new Skeldon factory at its optimum level will be reached. Once this capacity is reached, the factory can produce some 300 tonnes of sugar per hour. Presently the production is between 250 and 280 tonnes per hours at Skeldon.
The successful operation of this factory is pivotal to turning around the industry and reducing the price of sugar to a competitive level on the international market which is an imperative to ensure that the local sugar industry returns to profitability.
As such there must be a let-up on efforts to fulfill all the requirements and conditions that are necessary for the Skeldon Factory to operate at its optimum capacity.