-Holder talks up leasing of lands to farmers

WITH the payment of severance being confirmed for Tuesday the focus of government is solely on the transitioning of the redundant sugar workers and their families into entrepreneurs.
This is according to Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder. His comments were made on Friday at the Skeldon Community Centre Ground, where he along with a high profile team including Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, addressed the workers and highlighted the plan that will see the consolidation of GuySuCo to becoming the catalyst to re-invigorate the sugar industry as well as the economy. “It is the intention of the government to get on with the business of the people that is what you put us in office to do. Our efforts are focused on the transitioning of ex-employees into entrepreneurs including farmers, with the objective of determining the best operational model for transitioning redundant GuySuCo employees from Wales, East Demerara, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates into independent, self-sufficient and sustainable successful businessmen.”

According to the Agriculture Minister, the plan includes leasing lands to workers so that they can get into agriculture and be more in control of their destinies by determining the scope and size of their farms. This however, he noted, will require some time to set up. With that in mind GuySuCo has embarked on a Sustainable Communities Programme which is aimed at building the capacity of the redundant workers and is expected to run for the next two to three years. The programme seeks to target three main aspects: economic, social and environmental resilience.

As explained by the minster, the economic aspect of the plan will seek to re-skill the workers in fields of their choice where they will receive financial and technical support, to assist them into the launching of their own small businesses and or expand into a larger scale. To this end, government has made available $100M as a revolving micro loan for entrepreneurial endeavours. “In addition to this, very shortly GuySuCo and the Small Business Bureau of the Ministry of Business will implement the ‘Business, Financial and Investment Forums’ and four ‘Coaching Clinics’ for ex-employees of GuySuco”.

These are projected to begin sometime between the 29th and 31st of January and will not only target the former employees but also their families as well. Apart from the business aspect of the clinics/forums, long term planning such as medical and pension packages as well as insurances will be covered. For the social aspect of the plan, the minister stated that psychological assistance will be provided for the employees and their families by building a network that will support them to help foster social cohesion. In wrapping up, the minster assured the gathering that the government remains committed to the well-being of the workers and their families, and will work with all stakeholders to help reform the industry and make it a more viable and sustainable one. He called for continued cooperation to make it possible.

Meanwhile, in addressing the workers on the findings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the sugar industry, Junior Finance Minister, Jaipaul Sharma said the issues affecting the industry were long-standing problems and despite the opposition knowing about them they continued to plug money into the industry without addressing the core issue of lack of funding, to curb critical situations that could have helped to turnaround the industry since then.

He lamented that the CoI showed that production in the industry declined since 2005, dropping from 325,318 metric tonnes in 2004 to 216,358 metric tonnes in 2014, and that the opposition refused to heed the recommendations from the many business plans that were prepared annually and which were found to be overly optimistic in their projections.