The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has welcomed those measures in G$220B National Budget of 2014, which would further improve the social conditions of thousands of ordinary Guyanese.“We welcome all those measures even as we believe much more could be done. We are fully supportive of the ongoing subsidies to GPL and GWI, increase in pension benefits, grants for school children, among others, when assessed alongside some other budgetary measures they would certainly bring some relief and contribute to a better quality of life of the beneficiaries. The statistics provided by the Minister of Finance indicates continuing economic growth which is hastening at this time given international and national circumstances. We also take note that inflation remains within tolerable levels and predictions for this year are optimistic,” GAWU said.
The union added that the 2014 Budget also focuses on our agricultural sector and envisages strong support for its further development. The importance of such a course cannot be denied. Agriculture holds out bright prospects for our development, our future, and indeed, in providing employment. We share the view that this sector is deserving of increasing attention by the Government considering the growing demands for such products today and the market in our own Region and beyond that can be explored and tapped, while ensuring adequate, sustainable and cheap food for our people. In a world where increasingly one hears of land grabs, agribusiness and industrial agriculture by corporations which displace indigenous farmers show scant regard for the use of water resources or soil depletion and utilise excessive chemicals. But, there is a growing inclination for agricultural activities to remain in domestic hands, which should be officially promoted.
“In the context of the thrust to strengthen agriculture, the Budget also paid attention to the sugar industry. It is proposing the injection of G$6B into the important Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo), which is at a crucial juncture as is widely known. We also welcome this intervention at this time which is a demonstration of tangible support to the industry. This will certainly be a relief to all stakeholders of the industry, especially the thousands of workers, hundreds of cane farmers and their families and many others who conduct various transactions with the corporation and depend fully or partially on the industry for their sustenance and economic well-being,” GAWU asserted.

It added: “In as much as we recognise the necessity of such support, at this time, we hasten to insist that other crucial steps need be taken, one of which is to constitute the new Board of Directors of GuySuCo to guide the rehabilitation work of the industry, among other things.
“We are also mindful of the fact that this disbursement should be not delinked from the European Union (EU) Accompanying Measures and moreover the industry’s previous support to the state in the years of the Sugar Levy. The sugar industry continues to serve our country in a multi-faceted way. Therefore, we cannot allow the industry to fail. The impact of failure will be nothing short of devastation. The GAWU remains confident that the profitable expectations of the industry can be met.”[highlight][/highlight]