President Jagdeo predicts bright future for sugar
-says new and emerging sectors will not displace traditional industries
The constant carping of the opposition and other detractors came in for severe criticism by President Bharrat Jagdeo at the commissioning of the Enmore Packaging Plant last week Monday which is a landmark day in the government’s thrust in the diversification programme of the sugar industry in an effort to boost the viability of the sector.
The facility, which has been named “Project Gold”, is part of a US$12.5million investment in enhancing the operational capacity of the Enmore sugar estate and complements the government’s overall programme to sustain this severely ailing sector.

Project Gold boosts production of Demerara Gold

CEO of GuySuCo, Mr. Paul Bhim referred to the commissioning of the plant as a significant achievement in government’s ongoing modernisation programme and a critical aspect in the industry’s turn around plan, which primarily includes the new Skeldon factory and increased cultivation of sugarcane.
He predicted significantly improved performance by the second crop of 2011 of the Skeldon Factory after corrective work and the return to operation of the No. 1 boiler.
According to Bhim, “Project Gold” has two distinct components, first of which is the upgrade of the existing process house to facilitate the production of “Demerara Gold” and “Demerara Brown”, with the second component being principally the automated packaging facility, which is currently capable of producing 40,000 tonnes of packaged sugar annually, with the warehousing capacity of 40,000 tonnes sugar.
The phenomenal potential for vastly increased regional and global market-share for Guyana’s packaged sugar was highlighted by Bhim, who crunched numbers to explain that packaged sugar will increase “From a capacity of 8,000 tonnes of packaged sugar, which is currently being produced at our Blairmont location, to about 48,000 tonnes” when the new facility becomes operational.
The new plant, according to Bhim, is designed to increase output to 80,000 tonnes annually, which is compatible with the corporation’s strategic plan to move away from production of raw sugar to more value-added sugar as the demand for this product grows, because the industry has the potential to earn an approximate 35% more from the sale of packaged sugar, which he said bodes well for the industry.
Government’s support to sugar industry vital
Chairman of the Board, Dr Nanda Gopaul reiterated Bhim’s remarks, and lauded the unstinting support to the industry by President Jagdeo, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, in particular, and the Government of Guyana in general.
Citing the packaging facility as an indication that “…we are getting there”, Dr. Gopaul said that GuySuCo has already produced over 90,000 tonnes of sugar for this year under the first crop, which brings the industry well within, albeit a tad short of targeted output because of weather constraints. However, Dr. Gopaul assured that the industry has enough canes to reach the target set for 2011. Since last year, he said, there have been signs of a turnaround, which received a setback because of the inability to harvest all the canes in the fields, which he attributed to weather conditions and GuySuCo’s workers who seem unable to understand the gravity of the situation.
Dr. Gopaul expressed optimism for a change this year because “we have seen the signs and we have seen the cooperation of all the workers in the industry, putting their shoulders to the wheel and ensuring that we move on target.”
He said that as GuySuCo moves to integrate the East Demerara estates much more will be done to improve sugar production at the Enmore location and adjured workers to turn out to work in full numbers to ensure adequate amounts of cane is cultivated and harvested.

Ramotar great workers’ champion

Commending long-standing director of Guysuco, Donald Ramotar, whom he described as having been pivotal to the industry through the great efforts he has invested, Dr. Gopaul revealed that Ramotar is a great workers’ champion on GuySuCo’s board, always arguing on their behalf at board meetings.
He made an appeal to workers to work beyond the call of duty – round the clock, as sugar workers are wont to do, to achieve the industry’s 2011 production target of 300,000 tonnes.
Chairman and Managing-Director of the world-renowned engineering firm, Surendra Engineering Corporation, Mr. Surendra Parikh, extolled the efforts of GuySuCo’s staff and technical personnel that contributed immensely to the completion of the packaging facility within the promised timeframe and said that he was proud to be a part of the transformation of Guyana’s sugar industry, which will contribute to the overall economic development of the country.
It is the consensual opinion that Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, tasked with the transformation of the sector, has performed superlatively, with the packaging plant being the culmination of much effort on his part.
Referring to the packaging facility as an additional important milestone that will contribute to the modern and competitive sugar industry government is seeking to build, the minister continues to emphasise the importance of “value-added.”
He said that the state-of-the-art packaging plant and the modification of the Enmore Estate, is representative of the strong commitment of President Jagdeo, the PPP/C Government, and the People’s Progressive Party to the survival of the sugar industry and the welfare of sugar workers, as well as the many thousands of Guyanese who indirectly benefit from sugar production and its related activities and by-products.

Survival of sugar industry will never be in jeopardy

Speaking of the transformative process of an industry “plagued with many, many challenges,” the minister said that the packaging facility is evidence of the vision of where government aspires to take the industry through diversification within the industry itself. He alluded to the largest single investment in Guyana – the modern Skeldon Sugar Factory, and said that initiatives such as the packaging facility, among others yet to come on stream, are complementary to that investment, and assured sugar workers that the survival of the sugar industry in Guyana would never be in jeopardy.
However, he urged workers, management and the Board to integrate efforts to adopt a first-class attitude and approach to provide first-class service toward building a first-class sugar industry that will achieve its maximum potential and become much more vibrant and competitive as the industry overcomes extant and emerging challenges and emerges into a brighter and more prosperous future for sugar workers and the country in general.
GuySuCo board member Donald Ramotar, who was described by Chairman Dr. Nanda Gopaul as a great champion of sugar workers, expressed his delight at the realization of the multiplicity of new projects in the sugar industry that he termed “dreams of many generations of Guyanese patriots.”
He said that the sugar industry, the oldest industry in Guyana, started because of the characteristics of the sugar cane, which cannot be exported abroad to be processed, because it has to be processed in Guyana within a short period of time to prevent deterioration.

PPP always envisaged a diversified sugar industry
Thus it was that factories were built in this country to process the sugar, from which many other industries evolved.  However, he alluded to the fact that in the approximate 400 hundred years of sugar production, this country had been confined to producing raw sugar, which has considerably constrained Guyana’s sugar earnings.
Ramotar said that the PPP had always envisaged an independent Guyana as exploring diversification options for the sugar industry, but this did not fructify until the newly-installed PPP/C government began planning, since 1992, to make the industry a complex instead of a merely a producer of raw sugar so that the earnings and benefits of sugar workers could increase in tandem with the increased market-share and profitability of value-added sugar products, which has always been the focus of the Board.
The news and trends in the global marketplace had prepared this government to lose the European preferential market, although they did not anticipate that it would happen so quickly, which sent the sector reeling from the shockwaves.  However, according to Ramotar, the PPP/C government had already been strategizing on ways to modernize the industry, which culminated in, among other initiatives, the new factory at Skeldon and the state-of-the-art packaging facility at Enmore.
Itemizing accrual benefits that would redound to the nation from the PPP/C’s turnaround plan for sugar, Ramotar spoke of electricity being generated at the Skeldon factory; with anticipated projects including other specialities, such as refined sugar. He expressed the hope that other factories will also be equipped to generate electricity, and also to produce ethanol and paper to enhance income-generation and consequently boost the quality of life of sugar workers.
“This facility assures us that our industry is changing with the times, meeting the challenges and improving with the times, and we have made plans to ensure – unlike many other sugar industries in the Caribbean, and further afield, we are making plans to ensure that this industry survives – long, long in the much distant future, that it will still be here and making a great contribution to our country”, stressed Ramotar, who lauded sugar workers for the “heroic role” they have played in the industry to keep it going, even in the face of great odds.
GuySuCo’s management was strongly defended by Ramotar, who said “in the recent past, they have been  hammered in the press, and every single time I think, whenever they were criticized, that it was total injustice to this bunch of very good people that we have managing the industry.”
He mused whether the media attacks were directed at him personally and the other board and management members bore the brunt of the fallout, but he continued “I have worked with this group of fine people for some years now, and I do not believe that there is a better team – a better group of managers anywhere else in this country, and I have every faith that they will not only turn the industry around and make it better, but they would ensure, once again, that it picks up steam and realize the dreams and hopes of generations and generations of Guyanese….This is the beginning of turning GuySuCo and the sugar industry into a complex that will endure for a very long time to come.”

Burrowes says Jagdeo best President ever

Board member who wears many hats and performs indefatigably under each mandate, Mr. Keith Burrowes, prefaced his introduction of His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo with brief remarks anent the “scathing attacks” directed by media houses and detractors against GuySuCo’s board and management.
According to Mr. Burrowes, the GuySuCo Board of Directors is one of the most competent and dedicated board that he has ever worked with.
He said “GuySuCo is not an industry that is small, it is a huge industry.  The board members, in terms of their dedication, they have to put in a lot of time and effort, and I want to say that all the board members, which include Mr. Donald Ramotar…I think all the board members have benefited from his institutional knowledge. He has been on the board for a while and, apart from making us laugh every now and again with his sense of humour, he has really educated a lot of us on sugar. It’s amazing – his knowledge on sugar issues.”
Mr. Burrowes also spoke of Ramotar’s commitment to GuySuCo workers and stated “I know for a fact, whenever we have debates at the board meetings, he is extremely passionate when it comes to staff benefits, and I know that he will make a good President.”
Disclaiming ulterior motives and flattery, which Burrowes said he does not subscribe to, the GuySuCo director said that when President Jagdeo is committed to something, he motivates protagonists to work to optimum capacity.  “I will say this now…that, to date…I am not lobbying for any position, so I could say this openly and from my heart, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, so far, has been the best President that we have had.”
He made reference to Dr Cheddi Jagan who did not have the time to develop his programmes for the country, but he addressed President Jagdeo, to loud applause, saying “Mr. President, I would like to say to you, on behalf of all the young people, you have really inspired us…I would like to thank you personally for the confidence that you have shown in me and in the Board of Directors and management and staff (of GuySuCo).”

Sugar industry
Expressing pleasure at once more being afforded the opportunity to address GuySuCo management and staff, and workers in the industry’s ancillary services, President Jagdeo reiterated his pledge that the PPP/C government will always provide sustained support to “…an industry in which you work, an industry that provides a living for thousands of people, an industry that contributes to our national economy – in innumerable ways; in fact, 16 percent of our GDP comes directly from this industry.”
Drawing parallels to indicate the quantum of this amount and its importance to the national economy, the President elucidated “In the UK the financial sector contributes just five percent to their GDP yet when they have turmoil in that industry, it threatens to create decades of stagnation in that economy and economies related to it.
“So the sugar industry is vital for Guyana, not just for sugar workers, but there are some realities to this industry, and the path to success will not be easy”, warned the President. “but we have to succeed…There is no other choice.”
The President said that the commissioning of the new facility is a celebration of the commitment of a government that sees the industry as important, and the commitment of the workers to make the industry successful. He however stressed the imperative of continued and combined efforts to achieve the eventuality of a prosperous and thriving sugar industry in Guyana.
Enumerating some of the government’s achievements in the sector, which includes the largest single investment ever made in Guyana, President Jagdeo said, “We have kept the sugar industry alive in Guyana when industries right across the world – including in the Caribbean, are failing. He listed some Caribbean islands that have scrapped their sugar industries in the wake of difficulties faced through the EU price cuts several years ago.

Sugar industry currently losing US$45M per year

While expressing great appreciation to the European Union for support during these transitional stages in the industry, the President stressed that it was the EU that “unilaterally repudiated the sugar protocol – a protocol that was established since the 1970s; and on the basis of that protocol the EU got a preferential price for our sugar – almost half the world market price at the time, in exchange for long-term access to their markets. They forgot the historical dimension of this agreement and emphasized only its commercial aspect.”
President Jagdeo explained that as a result of the EU’s unilateral price cuts, Guyana’s sugar prices are 36 percent less than they were five years ago, which approximates G$9 billion (US$45 million) in lost or reduced revenue every year.
The President lambasted the detractors who pessimistically prognosticate doom and gloom scenarios and advocate relinquishing the sector because they envisage the problems and challenges in the sugar industry as being insurmountable.  However, President Jagdeo adamantly assured the stakeholders of the industry that, working together – government, workers, management, can make the industry once again successful, despite the very difficult environment – apart from the price cuts. He cited, as one of the major challenges facing the industry, the high level of volatility and erratic weather patterns due to global warming – a great problem, the creation of which he lays squarely at the feet of the developed world because of the fact that their carbon emissions are multiple times that of Guyana’s and other developing nations, which are facing the brunt of the climate change phenomenon.
The President stressed that rainfall detrimentally affects sugar content; apart from which the problem is compounded by peculiarities in the Guyanese scenario where harvesting becomes difficult during high levels and sustained rainfall.

President says not political interference but commitment
President Jagdeo, who was the primary architect of Guyana’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, speaking of the economic blueprint for Guyana, established by the government, said that the next wave of wealth will come from the emerging sectors of oil and gas, large-scale plantation agriculture, eco-tourism, agro-processing, and information technology, which are projected to generate “a new type of dynamism”, which will vastly boost income-generation and wealth-creation of Guyanese citizens.
However, he gave assurance of a commitment by the PPP/C government to sustain the traditional sectors –a commitment which he says is matched by solid investment in the bauxite, rice and sugar sectors; and crunched numbers totalling billions of dollars with which government has subsidized the traditional sectors in their difficult times.
Refuting Mr. Yesu Persaud’s contention that the problems facing the sugar industry is caused by too much political interference, the President, displaying great angst over the injustice of this sweeping allegation emanating from a senior entrepreneur whose manufacturing enterprise is one of the primary beneficiaries of the sustained sugar production in Guyana, largely from government’s efforts, said that it is not political interference but political commitment.
“Had there not been a political commitment by this government to the sugar industry,” affirmed the President, “today sugar would have been dead in Guyana; so it is not political interference, but a political commitment.”
He continued “When those who try to disparage the efforts made by this government to keep sugar alive, they must look at themselves…their whole sustenance, like the rum industry in Guyana, or a significant part of it – the alcohol industry, is based on the sweat and blood of sugar workers too, because they source their materials from us, and we must get a fair price for the materials that they get from us.”
“In our silence people get away with murder in this land. They talk about the sugar industry receiving support only because it is a support base for the PPP and not because it employs Guyanese.”
Government provides equitable support to all communities
However, the President contends that the government invests even-handedly in all the communities in the country and gave as an example the bauxite community, where $2 billion dollars is provided annually to subsidize electricity, which the opposition never speaks about.
“We manage with a clear conscience,” the President emphasized, “because we see all of our people – regardless of their religion or their race as Guyanese; equal before our Constitution, and equal in terms of opportunities.”
Yet, according to the President, detractors hostile to the PPP and the PPP/C government continually disparage the government’s efforts with outright lies and erroneous contentions to satisfy their own selfish agendas, which are often inimical to the nation’s interests.
“Had it not been for this government, sugar today would not have been alive; and had it not been for this government, the bauxite industry – which we took over back at one stage and kept it going until we got a new investor, would not have been alive. It would have been shut down…people like Lincoln Lewis and the others who call for…to vote out the PPP, they were there in the Berbice operations when the workers rejected them totally…rejected him, didn’t want him to speak to them, because of the message he carried. We kept both industries alive – in Linden and the Berbice River.”
Warning that the future is not going to be without hard work, and that a turnout of 43 percent of the labour force will provide major setbacks for targets, the President yet assured a future of prosperity for Guyanese, with the sugar industry significantly optimizing production and revenues, which will accrue to the benefit of sugar workers in the very near future.
However, he once more reiterated that this would only eventuate if all stakeholders, management and staff, play their roles effectively and perform their tasks conscientiously. He urged that everyone exercise responsibility in a collaborative way so that government’s massive investments in the industry will achieve optimum benefits for the industry, its employees, and ancillary beneficiaries.
During his address the President extolled the virtues of PPP Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar, long-standing director of GuySuCo and passionate champion of sugar workers. According to President Jagdeo, Ramotar would solidify and expand on the programmes initiated under the former’s stewardship and would in effect make an excellent president, who would serve Guyana and the Guyanese people well.