THE decision to close the Wales sugar factory is in the best interest of the country and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), government said Wednesday. Minister of State Joseph Harmon described the Wales Estate as an “economic nightmare,” while stressing that the closure of the factory was critical.

On Tuesday, following the announcement by government of the closure of the factory, former president and now opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo met with sugar workers and expressed his party’s opposition to government’s decision. He urged government to reverse its decision to close the Wales factory.
On Wednesday at a press conference held at Freedom House, Jagdeo accused the government of “rubbishing” the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report on the sugar industry. But government insists that while the closure of the factory was not recommended by the CoI report, GUYSUCO’s management and board of directors are in full support of the decision.
“The…decisions with respect to Wales estate were contained in GuySuCo’s budget and the 2016 action plan which was developed in 2015, and therefore did not bear any specific relationship to the CoI which was set up to enquire into GUYSUCO,” said Harmon. He noted that the factory would not be closed until 2017.
The Minister of State continued: “But more importantly, the minister [of Agriculture] had indicated to Cabinet that the management and Board of GuySuCo were at one head in relation to matters relating to Wales Estate; and the fact that the factory had become such a major issue for maintenance, repairs and the funds that were required to be pumped into it that it became an economic nightmare to continue to do the things the way we were doing it before.”
Consultations
Asked by reporters whether government is likely to consider reversing its decision to close the Wales Estate, Harmon said that his government is open to consultations with the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), but was quick to point out that only meaningful consultations would be entertained.
He said too that the door remains open to the PPP to have meaningful discussions on matters of national importance.
“I can say that as the point person in the government, I’ve received no indication from the Leader of the Opposition or any member of the Opposition that they’d wish to discuss this matter with us.”
The Minister of State emphasised that if Jagdeo’s recommendations for the sugar industry are “practical and are not purely political and emotional,” then government is “open to listening.”
“We would also be concerned in what they have to say in the National Assembly, in the committees where the CoI report will be discussed at length. What we hope is not just a knee-jerk reaction for political points that the Leader of the Opposition is now taking a certain position, but we hope it would be genuine consultations that have the interest of the sugar workers at heart and that the consultations are meaningful… we trust that it does not become a political charade.”
But Harmon could not state whether government would be inclined to reverse its decision on the closure. He noted however, that the Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, “laid out a compelling case” before Cabinet on why the factory should be closed.
“A…there are economic conditions; B…that you have a factory that is over 100 years old; you cannot find parts to replace those that are broken or worn out…it was part of the plan of GUYSUCO for matters of efficiency to bring the economic conditions of the corporation better.”
He emphasised that GUYSUCO is taking steps to ensure that it does not have to depend on the treasury for billions of dollars annually.
“The company is taking steps without the government saying to them do this…we must give them the support and encouragement to do what they have to do,” the Minister of State added.
Meanwhile, subject Minister Holder told reporters that the CoI report and of course the recommendations were laid before the National Assembly with the aim of having wide consultations. The report, he said, is before the Parliamentary Committee on economic matters to be considered. Members of the CoI will appear before the committee to explain, answer questions and elaborate on the report.
This he said cannot be an attempt to “rubbish” the report as suggested by Jagdeo. “This is news to me,” he said, when told that government has “rubbished” the CoI report on the sugar industry.
On the issue of consulting with cane farmers prior to the move to close the estate, Holder said Cane Farmers at the National Cane Farmers’ Conference held last year were briefed about the state of the sugar industry. He said the issues of expansion, contraction and the like were discussed with the farmers.
“The farmers’ cane is not in jeopardy. What is being closed is the Wales factory. You are dealing with a factory that is virtually 100 years old, that you can’t get spare parts for, that if you have to change the boilers you have to buy new ones because you really cannot get spares for those things. The estate is scheduled to lose about $1.6 to $1.9B this year.”
Explaining that Wales was not performing at its best, the subject minister said the factory was working at 50 percent capacity. Uitvlugt was also working at 50 per cent capacity, but the Uitvlugt factory is “a far more modern factory” and is in much better condition. It operated at 95 percent efficiency as compared to Wales at 85 per cent or less.
Holder noted that the 3000 acres of land left at Wales will not be cultivated. “None of the farmers’ cane in jeopardy,” he said. According to the Agriculture Minister, issues pertinent to sugar are of critical importance to the country and its citizens and government will not take those issues lightly.
When asked by reporters about the cost to move the farmers’ cane to Uitvlugt, Holder disclosed that “that is being investigated now.” He said government is looking to make internal water arrangements to move canes from Wales to Uitvlugt that may result in farmers gaining more. This method he explained is likely to be cheaper than the use of tractors and trailers transporting the canes along the public roads.
“We have one year to put the new arrangement in place. Nothing is happening apart from not replanting the 3000 acres at Wales; nothing else is happening to jeopardise the operations, people’s employment or anything of that nature. Wales’ Estate will not be closed before 31st December 2016,” said Holder.
Workers
The Agriculture Minister stressed that globally, companies are becoming more and more efficient and Guyana should do no less. He added that some workers are likely to be affected.
“Indeed, the people who are really affected would probably be some workers in the Wales factory. There are substantial vacancies at the Uitvlugt factory, so a lot of the workers from the Wales Factory will be absorbed in Uitvlugt but all cannot be. Therefore, they’d be a few people who are redundant and they’d receive severance,” he said.
He could not at the time provide reporters with the number of workers that are likely to be affected by government’s decision to close the Wales Factory.

By Ariana Gordon