THE Alliance for Change (AFC) at its quarterly National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the weekend, called on government to make decisive decisions in relation to the welfare of sugar workers and proposes that consideration be given to severance pay, offer of land leases, access to small loans and markets for agro-processing.

The call by the AFC comes in wake of the administration’s move to restructure the sugar industry, which will see the closure of some estates. The meeting which was attended by the national leadership and representatives from all the administrative regions in the country and the Diaspora, also addressed the party’s endorsement of the vision of a new bridge across the Demerara River along with the paving of the Linden to Lethem road.

Back in May, Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder had unveiled the government’s White Paper to save the sugar industry. He said then, that the future of the industry here lies in a smaller sector, with reduced losses and cash deficits but coupled with a separate and profitable diversified enterprise, which would ensure a viable future. The plan, he noted, intends to focus on the poorly-performing estates and have them shift from sugar to diversification.

“The proposed courses of action are to amalgamate [merge] Wales Estate with Uitvlugt Estate and reassign its cane to the Uitvlugt factory, since the estate is operating at 50 per cent capacity. Sixty per cent of its drainage and irrigation infrastructure is in a dilapidated condition. The corporation furthermore seeks to divest itself of the Skeldon Estate. The estates of Albion and Rose Hall are to be amalgamated and the factory at Rose Hall is to be closed.”

As a result, GuySuCo would then consist of three estates and three sugar factories. The estates would be Blairmont on the West Bank Berbice, Albion-Rose Hall in East Berbice and the Uitvlugt-Wales estate in West Demerara.

The three estates will be complete with factories and will have cane supplied from all five locations. By virtue of the amalgamation, the Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Rose Hall, Berbice factories were to be closed at the end of the year. However, the scheduled year-end closure of the Rose Hall and Enmore estates will be delayed until 2018, since no system has been put in place for the sugar workers following the closure, Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced last Thursday.

But even as there will be a major restructuring of the industry, GuySuCo is required to retain many of its workers for all operations on the merged estates or factories, and those employees are to receive leased lands from the sugar company to engage in crops to be decided by both GuySuCo and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Additionally, the Minister said GuySuCo plans, apart from restructuring the estates and factories, to transfer to the State charges for the drainage and irrigation and health services that it provides to the communities, and around the estates.

The party further endorses the design of the new Demerara River bridge as presented by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, the statement said. Additionally, the NEC welcomed measures to increase minimum wage and avoid any new taxes, while urging that Budget 2018 be balanced with enhanced social content to meet the needs of all communities, while not neglecting the strategic infrastructural projects.

The party said it remains fully committed to executing its role in advancing Constitutional Reform and calls on the government to establish the Integrity Commission as a matter of urgent national priority. That aside, the NEC mandated the party’s leadership to formally write to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) with regard to the review and revision of the Cummingsburg Accord, and stipulated that this process must be completed by the third anniversary of the signing of the Accord – February 14, 2018.

Members of the party’s negotiating team with regard to the aforementioned were named in anticipation of the APNU naming its negotiating team. Also, the NEC pointed to the need for strengthening of the party’s structures to prepare for the 2018 Local Government Elections, and to improve the performance of the party’s secretariat with a view to enhancing its efficiency and effectiveness in serving both the party and the public. ‘The NEC urged that the party heightens outreach activities across communities in Guyana and in Diaspora,’ the statement said.