Dear Editor,
KINDLY permit me to reply to a letter writer Mr Sookram Persaud, who feels that he is an authority on Guysuco and sugar. In his letter to the press on September 6th and 7th in the Guyana Times, the Chronicle and Kaieteur News, respectively, he wrote about my letter peddling lies and half-truths, yet he failed to provide any tangible evidence.

If he had done any research on the co-generation facility at Skeldon, he would have been aware that when this Government took office, the only one of the Wartsila engines was working, one was limping and one was completely down. One year after all three engines were once again operational and that was when I made that statement which was reported in the press in December 2016, that the co-gen plant was 100 percent operational. Where is the lie?

Mr. Sookram seems to have a problem getting his facts correctly and placing them in the correct time sequence; and I do feel that this is a deliberate attempt to twist my letter to suit his political agenda. He should also be aware — since he is an authority on the subject matter– that a dryer installed in the processing area in the Skeldon Factory has never worked, though it cost millions of dollars. Also, though every section in the factory was supposed to be fully automated, the entire factory is fully manual, employing nearly 300 persons. The dumper section had to be fixed by this Government and the diffuser system never worked efficiently. Where is the lie?

Then he has a problem with privatisation and diversification. Nowhere in my letter did I propose diversification. I said that sugar can be profitable in private hands and that Skeldon should be used as a model. This man definitely has poor comprehension skills or is deliberately trying to deceitfully attribute things to me which I never wrote.

I also want to educate Sookram that it was the Skeldon ‘White Elephant’ which malnourished the entire industry and caused management to resort to ‘voodoo crop husbandry.’ Mr Bhim and Mr Hanoman had to carry out the ‘political dictates’ of Jagdeo and the PPP Government at that time. In fact, Mr Hanoman had predicted that GUYSUCO will become insolvent since 2007. Political interference was the order of the day and when the PPP administration could not have their dictates carried out, they brought Raj Singh to do the ‘final rites’ for Guysuco.

Ms Audreyanna Thomas, Senior Communications Officer of Guysuco, invited Mr. Sookram Persaud if he does exist to have a discussion with Guysuco to enlighten him on various issues, but he never accepted the challenge (KN February 3rd2017). Like Ms. Thomas, I likewise feel that he does not exist.

Regards
Gobin Harbhajan
Regional Democratic Council, APNU+AFC
Former Board of Director Skeldon Electricity Inc. (SEI)