…accuses GAWU of frustrating implementation plan for industry
HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, has said that Cabinet is concerned about the state of affairs in the sugar industry and has cast blame on the major union representing sugar workers, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Office of the President yesterday, Luncheon said that within Cabinet, considerable apprehension was voiced at the current state of the industry, particularly regarding 2010 performances.
“Cabinet contends that the records will show that the administration has provided a full range of support that the industry needed to progress and to meet the turnaround targets. Cabinet contends further that the turnaround plan was and remains a reasonable basis for the short-term revitalisation of the industry,” he said.
He said that Cabinet’s contention is not only has the Union, GAWU, been unsupportive, but recent events have clearly disclosed the Union’s intentions to frustrate the implementation of the plan and the achievement of the short term measures in the turnaround plan.
“Nowhere is this more telling than in the Union’s promotion of industrial actions, strike, peculiarly with regard to the timing of the strikes and the location of the strikes,” the HPS said during the press conference.
He said the strikes and the withdrawal of labour have both played significant roles in the levels of under achievement of the 2010 targets, particularly with reference to production.
“Cabinet’s view is that the current situation is untenable. The Union is clearly out to frustrate the turnaround plan. The sad reality is that all will suffer. Lost production means lost earnings by the corporation. The question is what benefit is that to the workers in the industry and to the economy as a whole. Cabinet is urging that since so much depends on the Union’s cooperation and the Union’s collaboration with the industry and with Government to realise the 2010 and the other objectives of the turnaround plan, that the Union more maturely considers the options and be more transparent with its motives.”
Meanwhile, CEO of Guysuco, Paul Bhim, at a press conference yesterday, said that the corporation has a local overdraft of $2.2B owed to a consortium of banks in Guyana. Further, he said the corporation owes ING Bank US$8M which has to be repaid by the end of the year.
“We have to find that money and repay that loan. That is the agreement we have with them,” he said, adding that if that loan is not cleared, it would have dire implications for the corporation if it approaches overseas banks for further financing. About $2.2B is owed to local and overseas creditors and of this amount, about $1.6B of that is over 90 days overdue.
“We are very much dependent on producing sugar in order to bring those debt levels down,” said Bhim. According to Bhim, Government has indicated that it is considering Guysuco’s request for a package of $2B, “and that it is going to be used exclusively to pay off our creditors.”
In terms of production, Bhim said that this is at a standstill at the moment. “Skeldon was producing a minimal amount of sugar but they ran out of canes this morning (yesterday),” he said. He added that so far for the year, some 202,000 tonnes of sugar has been produced.
“It’s an awful long way to go before we can get to 250,000 tonnes,” he said, noting that none of the other factories are grinding at the moment.