THE Alliance For Change (AFC) yesterday came out in support of A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) position on scaling back the operations of the sugar industry and putting the lands to use for fish farming and cane-derived ethanol – but this position has been vehemently rejected by Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.

And he declared that the party should be “ashamed” of its position.
Ramsammy said, “I am glad that the AFC has made themselves clear. They have exposed themselves as the poodle of the APNU.
“The AFC and APNU see a future without sugar, but the position of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is that it sees a future where sugar is still a critically important component for economic prosperity.”
According to him, the combined Opposition has had a long history of being anti-sugar workers.

CLOSING THE INDUSTRY
He said, “The AFC presented themselves as the champion of sugar workers. They claimed they would have doubled sugar workers’ pay before the 2011 elections. Now they want to close the industry.”
Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, has been reported as saying, “We have called ever since for the Government to make that investment in ethanol production the order of the day, and we have Brazil and other firms from India that can help in that regard and also help Guyana in the long run to save billions in foreign currency and fuel.
“…we cannot allow GuySuCo to keep eating up over $200B when its factories (Skeldon) aren’t working satisfactorily.
“…they want to keep them (sugar workers) in that morass forever so as to garner votes, so they are trying to paint the Opposition as if they have no care for people but if the Government cared they would have transformed the sector ever since, they are too hard ears.”
On Monday, PPP General-Secretary, Clement Rohee, made it clear that a comparative analysis of the sugar producing countries across the globe would show that Guyana is not unique in the challenges it faces.

SHINING STAR
“We recognise what and where the problems are and the Administration is working to address this,” he said.
Rohee pointed out that in the Caribbean, Guyana is a “shining star” when one considers the problems with the Region’s production.
“If there is any government in this country that knows how to run a sugar industry is a government in which the People’s Progressive Party is major player and that’s a historical fact,” the PPP General-Secretary stressed.
He also rejected the assertion that the current Administration is “running the sugar industry into the ground”.
The General-Secretary said, “I will never accept that criticism of running it into the ground. That is an over-exaggeration. We recognise where the problems are and what the problems are. We are working to address those problems and I am optimistic that given time, the industry will rebound.”

(By Vanessa Narine)