GuSuCo says NICIL has no authority to lecture it

THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the National Industrial Commercial and Investment Limited (NICIL) continue to engage in a struggle for power over the management of the industry.

On July 1, it was disclosed that GuySuCo received a $250M bailout from NICIL to reel back the effects the financial challenges have had on the Industry. But in disbursing the much-needed finance to the sugar corporation, NICIL said GuySuCo should seek to resolve its financial challenges through professional engagements rather than resorting to “petty disclosures” and “half-truths” in the press.

On Saturday, GuySuCo fired back. It said NICIL has no professional credibility nor experience to lecture it on sugar, even as it accused the investment company of attempting to hijack its operation and intellectual property.

“The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) is perturbed over the fact that the National Industrial Commercial and Investment Limited (NICIL) has arrogated unto itself the responsibility of managing the Corporation. This is to the peril of the Corporation and its employees,” GuySuCo said in a statement on Saturday.

GuySuCo made it clear that it will not abdicate its responsibilities to NICIL, noting that, from the onset, it has had a solution-oriented approach to the transitioning of the sugar industry but its “good intentions” have been “derailed” by NICIL’s ambitions and uncooperative and less than professional conduct.

It contended that the financial crisis currently being faced is a result of the less than professional conduct of NICIL, pointing to a case of exploitation. “The Corporation has noticed that NICIL has launched a public awareness campaign promoting its success in implementing a number of projects which are the intellectual property of GuySuCo and its managers. It should also be noted that this is being done without any consultation or reference to these being the ideas of GuySuCo.

Further, these projects are based on strategic company documents developed by current and former managers of GuySuCo, on the new direction relative to diversification and divestment of aspects of the company, in order to ensure survivability of the remaining three estates – Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion,” GuySuCo said.

It noted, further, that the company documents were provided to NICIL’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU) for the sole purpose of overseeing the divestment and possible diversification of GuySuCo’s four estates – Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon, with the understanding that the proceeds will be given to GuySuCo to be reinvested into the three remaining estates.

“GuySuCo wishes to state that while the company’s documents and intellectual property were handed over to the NICIL/SPU for the purpose of overseeing the divestment and diversification of the four estates, during 2017- 2018, the Corporation learnt that some of these documents were used to transfer the ownership of Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates and other company property to NICIL, without GuySuCo’s knowledge,” the corporation indicated.

In 2018 GuySuCo said it learnt that NICIL/SPU had applied to a commercial bank and had successfully acquired a G$30B Bond by using the strategic plans it had developed, though it was never consulted on the acquisition of the bond.

“The Corporation would like to state that NICIL/SPU brought no new thinking to the transition process of GuySuCo and the sugar industry, since the strategic plans or business plans that were used by NICIL, and submitted to the commercial bank for the G$30B Bond, were developed by a group of managers from GuySuCo, as a part of a task force that was led by the current Chairman of GuySuCo, Mr. John Dow, under the leadership of Mr. Errol Hanoman, a former Chief Executive,” GuySuCo said.

It added: “The diversification plan, inclusive of the rice project at Wales Estate, for which NICIL now takes the credit, was also developed by a group of managers as a part of another task force that was led by former Skeldon Estate Manager, Karamchand Bramdeo, for the reorganization of GuySuCo.”

GuySuCo said by some strange turn of events, NICIL, notwithstanding the fact that it used the corporation’s intellectual property, sought to advise the directors to adhere to the terms and conditions of the bond.

However, in jogging NICIL’s memory, GuySuCo said the investment company should never forget that it was the current Chairman of GuySuCo, who was the author of the strategic plan that was submitted to the bank for the G$G30 Bond, and that had he or GuySuCo been consulted, the Bond arrangement would have had more relevance now.

GuySuCo has since recommended that the Bond arrangement be tailored and aligned with the phases of its business plan. It explained that the “terms and conditions” which were negotiated for the Bond are largely out of sync with the operational requirements of GuySuCo. “So, NICIL has essentially committed GuySuCo to a financial arrangement that has no real value to the Corporation, in its current form,” the corporation contended.
The corporation further contended that the strategic plans being used by NICIL in its tourism, rice production, and sale of lands programmes are all the intellectual property of GuySuCo and its managers.

“The farmers who were given lands from NICIL at the Wales Estate for farming, that initiative was based on GuySuCo’s ‘Sustainable and Resilient Communities Programme’ (S&RCP). GuySuCo has trained more than one hundred and fifty persons in various areas of farming, and approached NICIL for lands, from its own estate at Wales, to give to those persons who were trained; and NICIL/SPU has refused to give the lands; but are now distributing lands to persons in the community for farming,” GuySuCo contended.

NO AUTHORITY TO LECTURE ON SUGAR
In response to recent statements by NICIL, GuySuCo said the investment company has no authority to lecture it on sugar, even as it iterated that it was the managers of the corporations who had developed the strategic plan for the industry. GuySuCo said its directors and managers have always been professional in the execution of their mandate. “They have been so professional, to the point that NICIL has been openly using the company’s intellectual property and are profiting from its assets for the past three years, while at the same time, GuySuCo faces possible closure. The professionalism to which NICIL speaks, must be perverted, for NICIL to think that this situation must continue and GuySuCo must not seek to enquire and even challenge this imposition,” the sugar corporation said.

While the Holding Company has indicated that NICIL in the not so distant future will release an additional $750M, underscored the need for NICIL and GuySuCo to sit down and engage in solutions-driven discussions on making GuySuCo a commercially viable entity. But GuySuCo again reminded that NICIL’s involvement in the Sugar Industry was as a result of the solutions in the strategic plans that were crafted by the managers of the corporation.
“Secondly, NICIL must be reminded that, Wales, Enmore, Rosehall and Skeldon Estates with accompanying assets, both moveable and immoveable, were vested to the Holding Company without a penny being paid to GuySuCo. If NICIL should pay GuySuCo for at least the 4,600 acres of freehold lands which the Corporation had valued at G$80B, the Corporation will also agree for NICIL to deduct the G$9,970,759,568 that was disbursed from the Bond and the remainder could be disbursed into a Trust Fund for GuySuCo to carry out its recapitalization programme, pay its creditors and address operating expenses,” the corporation said.

It added: “…while NICIL vested the assets from Wales, Enmore, Rosehall and Skeldon Estates, all of the liabilities for those estates still remain on GuySuCo accounting records. If NICIL can take over these liabilities also, which include, ex-gratia pensioners and bank loans, this will definitely pave the way for the Corporation to become a commercially viable entity.”

GuySuCo said it is waiting on the Holding Company to submit copies of the valuations for Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates for 2017, noting that its external auditors are awaiting same to close-off the 2017, 2018 and 2019 audits for GuySuCo. “If this is done expeditiously, GuySuCo would be better positioned towards becoming a commercially viable company,” it said.

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