Dear Editor,

THE Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) has found very distressing the headline in Kaieteur News dated December 5, 2016 and titled “Cabinet to scrutinise ‘exorbitant’ salaries of executives at debt-ridden GuySuCo”.

The reported story suggests that Kaieteur News has accepted the fiction proffered by letter writers, and did not seek — as good journalism requires — to verify the accuracy of the figures. Had Kaieteur News done so, it would have discovered that apart from the quoted figures being fictional, all salaries and conditions of service of the executives and managers are strictly within the longstanding corporation’s grades and scales for the respective positions.
These were in place well before the appointment of the current Board of Directors, Interim Management Committee and specialist consultants.

It would seem that Kaieteur News has unwittingly allowed itself to be the vehicle for those who are bent on fomenting public mischief.

Indeed, examination would reveal that current executives have actually declined some of the longstanding benefits attached to their respective positions. These are facts of which the subject minister would have been fully advised; so there can be no justification for peddling the myth that the Cabinet would have to scrutinize the objective evaluation of the relativities of jobs in GuySuCo.

It is evident that elements within the society are unhappy with the management and leadership of the Corporation, and, along with their letter-writing friends, are hell bent on destabilizing the management of GuySuCo and are trying their utmost to derail the efforts being made by the GuySuCo Management, Board and Government to find solutions for the problems of GuySuCo and its employees going forward.

The grossly exaggerated and fictional remuneration packages contained in the mischievous letters of one Sookram Persaud (KN: November 30, 2016) and John Williams (KN: December 5, 2016) can only be aimed at creating animosity towards the management by the corporation’s workers and the public at large.

Regards,
GUYANA SUGAR CORPORATION