Thousands of lives under threat with APNU privatisation 
THOUSANDS of livelihoods are under threat now that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Presidential Candidate, Mr. David Granger has made public his intentions to privatise the sugar industry.
Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) President, Mr. Komal Chand told that to the mammoth gathering at Sunday’s People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Stewartville, West Coast Demerara rally.
Granger had previously indicated that under his administration the privatisation of State owned companies, like GuySuCo, will continue as begun under the Presidency of the late Mr. Desmond Hoyte between 1989 and 1992.
Granger made the announcement at the second in a series of luncheon/interactions with the Presidential Candidates organised by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) in May this year.
“Privatizing sugar is the worst thing that could happen…Hoyte tried to do it but the Union and the PPP/C stood against it…privatization would be a bad day for the  industry, a bad day for the country and a bad day for the livelihoods of thousands,” Chand posited.
According to him, the policies and programmes of the PPP/C should be embraced as they target development and improvement of the average man’s life.
The Union President declared that, at the end of the day, the bottom line is that benefits for better lives reach the average man, woman and child.
Chand said the investments, to date, will stand the incumbent party in good stead, come November 28.

Great future

“We have a great future ahead, but it is only possible with your support,” he urged the crowd, telling them that the AFC (Alliance for Change) will tow the line for the time but they cannot be trusted to ensure progress and development.
The GAWU President warned against a repeat of 1964 when the other opposition forces joined with the People’sNational Congress (PNC) to remove the Cheddi Jagan Government.
“We must guard against the conspiracy…every single vote is counted. We have to get 50 plus one,” he calculated.
Chand reiterated: “We cannot trust APNU and AFC. APNU is the same PNC…we cannot trust them.”
He said the PPP/C has shown a bias to the needs of the Guyanese people in their development drive.
“Guyana has much to be proud of. The progress, over the years, cannot be doubted.”
He emphasised that, from 1992 to date, much has been done for the average citizen, for the average sugar worker.
Chand recalled that, while the PPP supported privatisation in the 1990s, as a means of controlling the commanding heights of the economy, it did not consider privatising the sugar industry. Instead billions were pumped into the industry to ensure its success.
In private hands and, most all business-smart people, low performing estates will be closed, but, were those estates to be closed in private hands, the Government will still not be better off. 
He pointed out that GuySuCo undertakes certain drainage and irrigation works as part of its operations and, if these costs were to be subtracted, the estates would be profitable. In private hands these drainage works will still have to be done but, with the estates closed, that cost would have to be paid by the government.
Under the incumbent government, the policy line has been clear as it relates to the sugar industry, as it has been in the days of the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who said, then, that the industry would be privatised “over my dead body,” Chand recalled.
He maintained that the PPP/C and its supporters must continue to remember Dr. Jagan to ensure that his legacy stays alive and that the Guyana that is good today is better tomorrow.