– Dr. Luncheon
HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr. Roger Luncheon is confident that the projections for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) for 2011 are achievable once the stakeholders commit to working according to the established plan.
Dr. Luncheon, at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday at the Office of the President complex, placed strong emphasis on the high level of scrutiny that will be put forth on the sugar industry during this year and in the future.
Dr. Luncheon is confident that this will impact significantly on the industry’s turnaround plan being realized since he believes that “there is nothing like public scrutiny and public opinion to make you do things right.”
“So a good mix of information, accountability and the resolve of the stakeholders to work according to the plan…and I believe 2011 would bring in the turnaround plan,” Dr. Luncheon said.
According to the HPS, there is no hidden agenda regarding the industry as the public has been fully informed about the details of the problems affecting GuySuCo even prior to 2010 which brought the industry into its parlous position.
At a press conference on December 20, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GuySuCo Dr. Nanda Gopaul highlighted some of the challenges facing the industry which impacted negatively on its performance.
Among these were the actions by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) in relation to wage negotiations for workers.
He said the industry suffered 249 strikes without notice in addition to a total of 96,790 man hours loss. These he attributed to irresponsible actions by the union.
Dr. Gopaul further stated, that the union should also focus on the survival of the industry as does GuySuCo, because, without the sugar industry there will be no need for collective bargaining, workers or the union.
Dr. Gopaul added that even Government was criticized for pumping money into the sugar industry and for making certain interventions.
According to the Chairman, since 2002 Government has been making efforts to sustain the industry, among which were, the decisions taken by President Bharrat Jagdeo to waiver a $2.8B debt in levy owed to the Government. The levy was subsequently abolished despite the fact that between 1992 and 2001 it brought in close to $20B in revenue to the country.
In addition to these interventions, there was also an additional US$4B from government, then another US$12M grant which was made to the Enmore packaging plant to promote value added, followed by an injection of US$112M into GuySuCo’s Skeldon Factory.