GUYANESE from all walks of life were left wondering what exactly is happening with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), following Carl Greenidge’s “foot in his mouth” pronouncement that the sugar workers are the PPP’s problems.
It should be understood that under Greendige’s PNC, like the rest of Guyana, the sugar sector experienced a

major decline in the 1980s, with a consequent consolidation of some parts of the industry. However, its recovery in the current decade has been rapid. Its output levels have approximately doubled since 1993 and production in 2013 is expected to mark a further increase over that of 2012. The principal indicators of cane quality have shown significant improvements since 1993, and they can be expected to improve further in the coming years.
The durability of the sugar industry and its recent evidence of dynamism are reasons for optimism about the future. Therefore despite the debilitating effects of the EU price-cuts and the extant variables in the external forces currently wreaking havoc with our international markets, Guyana’s leadership is determined to circumnavigate the marshy grounds of the dynamics threatening the viability, even the survival, of the industrial configurations, and as a result, the Skeldon initiative was conceived in 1998 as part of Guyana Sugar Corporation’s strategic review and the commissioning of the US$185M Skeldon factory marked the culmination of ten years of planning and execution.
This represented the PPP/C’s recognition and commitment to modernizing the sugar, bauxite, and rice industries, to make them globally competitive. The Skeldon factory is integral to restoring sugar to the position of prominence it once enjoyed. The factory, which has a capacity to produce approximately 120,000 tonnes of raw sugar, will require about 1.2 million tonnes of cane annually if it is to function at optimum levels. New lands are being cultivated in Manarabisi and at locations near the Skeldon estate and at Moleson Creek to meet the input requirements, which approximates to three times the amount needed by the old sugar estates. The construction of a $2.4b packaging facility at Enmore Sugar Estate will ensure that international sanitary standards are followed.
It becomes mind boggling therefore that Greenidge can utter such an asinine pronouncement, when it is known that the sugar industry is this nation’s patrimony coupled with the fact that in Regions 5 and 6 in Guyana, the sugar industry is the largest employer and therefore it is in the government’s and the nation’s interest to ensure the sustainability of this sector.
One can conclude therefore, that with Greenidge doing away with the entire workforce of the sugar industry most of whom are Indo-Guyanese, that APNU has shed its “UNITY” skin and has again traversed down the road of the racism that it inherently holds sacrosanct.