RECENT reports citing a proposal to close the sugar industry, this time from former People’s National Congress (PNC) Member of Parliament (MP) Mr Stanley Ming, have shadowed the position of the political Opposition on the same matter.Ming, last Friday, advocated for the closure of the sugar industry in favour of becoming a producer of the South American “super food” quinoa (a protein packed whole grain).

“Sugar (production) all over the world is now being reduced by substitute sweeteners, and the price that sugar is being sold for now in the world is less than our cost of production. There is no way we can bring the cost of production down to meet what is the world cost for sugar,” Ming said.

Before Ming had commented, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), through its member Tony Vieira, had, in March 2014, called for significant scaling down of operations at the state-owned GuySuCo, suggesting that lands used for sugar cane cultivation be used instead for fish farming and cane-derived ethanol.

Vieira’s comments had suggested that Guyana should entirely get out of the business of producing sugar, because of a number of factors militating against it; such as heavy rainfall, the need for several tonnes of cane to yield just one tonne of sugar; and the inordinate length of time it takes to get the cane to the factory due to a shortage of labour.

AT ODDS
These two positions on the future of the sugar industry are at odds with recent statements made by Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, the presidential candidate of the APNU+AFC alliance.

Speaking to Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) stakeholders last Tuesday, he had said, “We are not going to throw the sugar industry through the window…there is no quick-fix, but we are not going to dissolve the sugar industry…it is too big to fail.”

Despite its challenges, the current administration has consistently maintained that the industry remains relevant to the health of the national economy.
In 2013, sugar exports accounted for 8.3 percent of total exports and were valued at more than US$112 million.
Moreover, the industry had contributed 3.9 percent of the country’s GDP.

In 2014, GuySuCo recorded a production of 216,147 tonnes of sugar -– the first crop having surpassed the 75,000-tonne target, bringing in about 80,000 tonnes.

The calamitous drop in sugar prices on the global and preferred market scene, which challenges all sugar industries, coupled with the dramatic fall in earnings — and by extension cash flow, and the prevailing weather conditions were among several of the difficulties that affected the local sugar industry during 2014.
ABSURDITY
Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, in an exclusive interview with the Chronicle yesterday, rubbished the political Opposition’s contentions as “absurdities”, and declared them evidence of the Opposition speaking with “a forked tongue”.

“It is an absurdity, and it is part of the mathematical equation of APNU+AFC = PNC! They speak from both sides of their mouth,” he declared.

Dr Ramsammy added: “Mr Ming, being associated with the PNC, has usually advocated for a PNC position, given that his views are aligned to that party. On the other hand, you have Mr Vieira at a PNC press conference giving an APNU position which neither Mr Granger nor anyone within APNU has ever denied.”
Minister Ramsammy stressed that the sugar sector has been — and remains — important to Guyana.
“Even after all this, Mr Granger had to go to a private sector (engagement) and there he claimed that sugar is too big to fail and we must invest in the industry; the same thing they objected to in the 10th Parliament. He claims that sugar is important to Guyana.”

The political Opposition’s stance on support for the sugar sector is a matter of public record, Dr Ramsammy said, and includes a massive protest, last April, by sugar workers when the $6B subvention to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) was threatened by the parties’ one-seat majority in the National Assembly, which currently stands dissolved.
The $6B allocation to the sugar industry, battling climate change and other challenges, was hit on day one of the 2014 Budget debates, with Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) maintaining that the monies represent a handout, and contending that good monies are being thrown after bad.

COME CLEAN
On that note, the Agriculture Minister emphatically called for APNU+AFC to “come clean” on its actual position regarding the sugar sector.

“They are speaking from different sides of their mouth. If Mr Granger’s position on the sugar sector, as articulated at the GMSA luncheon, is to be taken as the APNU+AFC position on sugar, then Mr Ming’s comments have to be publicly rejected,” he said.

Dr Ramsammy added that, contrary to the political Opposition, the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has a clear position and an outlined vision for the sugar sector.

He said, “The PPP/C position has been consistent: Sugar is important to Guyana! It is not that it is too large to fail, (but) it remains a pillar of the economy, supporting large groups of people.

“The PNC is not consistent. APNU+AFC needs to indicate whether they support the PPP/C on ensuring that the sugar sector is preserved as an important industry in our country.”

Given its challenges, the industry saw a dismal sugar production level in past years, but Guyana has since been taking steps to turn around its sugar industry, and hopes to soon meet a 300,000-tonne target. There is also a projection that the sector would reach a 400,000-tonne goal by 2020.

To date, production for the first crop of 2015 has surpassed 24,500 tonnes in a target set at 86,201 tonnes. The production figure being targeted by GuySuCo for 2015 is some 240,000 tonnes.
By Vanessa Narine