MEMBERS of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) have engaged a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the structural changes of the sugar industry.

According to a press statement from GAWU, the union met with the IMF team which is in Guyana to conduct its annual “Article IV” consultation.

The main focus of the discussion regarded the structural changes of the sugar industry. The union, on this matter, said it expressed concerns regarding what it termed the two-pronged approach adopted by the Government of Guyana.

The GAWU team explained that one area of concern is the divestment of three of the closed estates which includes Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara Estates; and the other aspect regarded the re-capitalisation of the estates under the control of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

With respect to the divestment approach, GAWU expressed concerns that the process appeared to lack transparency. “We pointed out that the divestment would possibly be the largest in the nation’s history, yet the Guyanese people were none the wiser about the value of the assets being put up for sale. Moreover, we reminded the IMF that its 2017 Article IV report on Guyana had urged the government to ensure that displaced sugar workers be protected by appropriate safety nets.

“This suggestion we hastened to point out was not considered as apart from the statutory severance payments to workers, which we reminded were illegally withheld and corrected following the intervention of the courts, there is hardly, if any, tangible expression of the State’s assistance to the workers and communities affected,” said GAWU.

The union pointed out that since the estate closures, the persons affected remain hard pressed and finding themselves in difficult situations.

Turning to the plans to recapitalise the operable estates, GAWU reiterated its concerns about the apparent absence of a plan to guide the bond which was secured.
It was, however, reported that to date, the GuySuCo has received $7.4B from the $30B bond intended to recapitalise its operations, but it is unclear whether the money is being used for its intended purpose. According to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), the state-owned company that secured the bond on behalf of GuySuCo, the financial information is not forthcoming.

NICIL’s Acting Head, Colvin Heath-London, clarified that while GuySuCo has provided a broad overview of how the monies are intended to be spent, a detailed financial report on each disbursement has not been submitted to date. “We shared that, on several occasions, we asked the GuySuCo about its plan only to receive deafening silence,” said GAWU.
GuySuCo said that it does not have to explain, in detail, to NICIL, its use of the $30B bond, the Sugar Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Harold Davis, told the Guyana Chronicle. GuySuCo, however, said funds were used to repair factories and pay wages.