– Komal Chand
“[GUYSUCO] is already declaring a shortfall of 16,000 tonnes. That is very bad news. That will be a great blow to Guysuco this year,” President of the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union, Komal Chand, said last evening.
In an interview with this newspaper yesterday, Chand spoke of the lower prices for sugar because of the full effects of the European Union price cuts and the falling Euro, which, although strengthened, is not as strong as it was earlier in the year.
“You need more sugar,” Chand emphasized. Former CEO of the company Errol Hanoman had stated that the company will reach break-even point in 2012. But this is in doubt given the low production that the company is experiencing.
Asked about the possibilities of the corporation achieving its downsized target of 264,000 from 280,000 tonnes, Chand said that Guysuco “claims that they have the canes in the fields but they are concerned about the wet weather which could impede harvesting and diminish sucrose content.” He said that with the weather forecast to continue the way it has been for the past weeks, the outlook for the corporation is gloomy. Efforts by this newspaper to elicit a comment from Guysuco proved futile.
Chand said the Skeldon plant is working since the fire incident, but despite this, the weather is still continuing to be a negative factor. He said the weather is affecting the work of the mechanical harvesters and the labour force in general. He said the private cane farmers who are to provide one-third of the canes needed for grinding at Skeldon have canes on the ground. But he said they must liaise with the management of the Skeldon Estate to know when they must commence their harvesting.

UNRELENTING

Chand said the meeting between the Union and the management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation saw no relenting of the corporation’s decision to fire and sanction a number of employees for a fire on August 7.
According to Guysuco, a full investigation was conducted which revealed that the incident resulted because of gross negligence and caused extensive damage where remedial work will cost millions of dollars, coupled with the loss of three days production.
As a result of the incident, management took disciplinary action against employees, both managerial and non-managerial, resulting in two senior employees being interdicted from duty, one dismissed, one suspended and two non-managerial employees suspended and three non-managerial employees dismissed.
Following this action, last Tuesday factory workers decided to engage in a strike against the decision to dismiss their colleagues. But they returned to work on Friday so that the corporation and the union could discuss the issue.
Chand said the Union has written the company’s Industrial Relations Department requesting a meeting to discuss the matter.
He said the Guysuco management maintains that the men have been negligent in allowing the fire to develop to the point where extensive damage was caused to the bagasse conveyor belt.
It is believed that because of the strike, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud has delayed a planned visit to the Skeldon factory to look at the operations there and to speak with cane farmers on the ground.