Dear Editor
THERE is much publicity on the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) being unable to pay its employees because of its financial position, forcing it to seek financial support from the Government. It is concluded that the request was turned down and the corporation must now resort to the sale of cane lands in order to stay afloat. I refer here to Demerara Waves article of Sept. 21st, 2017- ‘GuySuCo sells more land to cope with “major cash crisis.”
Editor, I support fully, Government’s intervention to ensure that GuySuCo employees are paid for work done but, one wonders whether the Government is enquiring why the corporation’s cash flow is in “crisis” at this stage of the crop. Typically, cash flow improves steadily and peaks during the cropping period because sugar produced is available for sale hence, cash in the bank. With consistently poor production being recorded weekly, the current cash “crisis” comes as no surprise. The fact that sugar production as at 16th September, 2017 is hopelessly at 29,669t after nine weeks of operation explains the crisis at hand. The production woes were further exacerbated by the non-operation of Skeldon and Enmore factories as per schedule. This was self-inflicted because of gross mismanagement and incompetence by executives of the corporation.
Interestingly, the news item described the CEO to have said that some of this subsidy will be used to “finance operations, pay creditors, and procure equipment for Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt– all targeting an annual production of almost 150,000t.” Editor, GuySuCo’s CEO must be on another planet or he thinks he can fool all the people, all the time. I make that comment because GuySuCo, in February 2017 cited an annual production of 198,458t sugar for this year, 2017. Gross incompetence resulted in under achievement of the first crop 2017 target, forcing the corporation to revise that target to 174,433t, a reduction by 24,473t. It is now September 2017 and the CEO blurts out another target of “almost 150,000t.” Editor, is anyone in Government asking this princely paid CEO and his executive team to show cause why crop targets are not met and why it changes by such massive amounts from estimates that these very executives provide? How long will Government continue to accept the pre-May 2015 excuses such as weather and strikes? At this rate, the management team at GuySuCo is well poised to deliver yet another record low production, this time, lower than 2016’s production of 183,652t. The corporation’s cash crisis is expected to grow with dwindling production.
Regards
Sookram Persaud