SUGAR plays a mighty role in the history of Guyana, in the making of the Guyanese soul. So it is necessary to weather the storms the industry faces in these trying times; to stick with reforming it, and to mediate a way forward that secures sugar’s role in the socioeconomic well-being of Guyana.

Sasenarine Singh took over the helm of this troubled industry in September, and his passion to turn the ship around shows up with encouraging energy. Under his stewardship, one can rest assured that the leadership of the Guyana Sugar Industry is in the right hands and heart.

That is an important factor; the passion, commitment, and energy of the leader, and also his team on the Board and in Management. But beyond the merit and ability of the leadership, such is the challenge facing this main sector of the national agriculture setup, that a range of things must come into firm alignment. This would test the visionary ability of Guyanese to convert their beloved industry into again a vibrant force.

First and foremost, sugar needs a strong dose of innovation, technology, and futuristic thinking. In other words, Singh and his team must approach the cane-fields, punts, trenches, and workers manning the fields, factories and floors from the standpoint of a futuristic outlook.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) enjoys a strong relationship with sugar. The party stands with sugar workers, and in fact, the history of sugar and the PPP/C is so intertwined that the two are inseparable.

When the Coalition Government launched its war on the sugar industry, shutting down factories and tearing thousands of workers from their livelihood, much of it could have been a political attack against the PPP/C and its deep love for sugar workers. Thankfully, today, the PPP/C is redeeming the industry, and hundreds of sugar workers are coming back into full employment.

Brian Rooney is a young man from East Canje, Berbice, who works hard, waking up at 04:00 hrs to trek off to work in the sugarcane fields. He depends on the industry to take care of his six children and wife, including to educate his high school children, and to maintain his house. During the days of the Coalition, he got laid off, and resorted to planting his yard, only to see floodwaters in the rainy season from the overflowing Berbice River inundate his garden. He turned to the muddy task of catching crabs and fishing to make ends meet. The five years of Coalition governance stressed him and his family out enormously.

Today, he is again gainfully employed, doing what he loves best: Working in the sugarcane fields, and boasting of his Estate job. His family is living much easier these days, and he is relieved that the Coalition can no longer cause him anxiety about taking care of this family.

Rooney’s story mirrors that of many families, some working the sugar industry for generations. Countless families depended on the sugar industry over the years to see doctors, lawyers, and other professionals emerge from their ranks. The Guyanese story is intimately intertwined with sugar.

But human society changes, and so as technology impacts the world more and more, the Guyana sugar industry could expect massive disruptions. It is the nature of advancing and developing modernised systems and machinery. Things change. But the way the sugar corporation manages these disruptions is crucial to the smooth transition of the industry into a futuristic endeavour. The future of Guyana must include sugar; sugar’s history is resplendent with the blood, sweat and tears of the Guyanese people. African slaves bent their backs and toiled in hot sun, slaving away for European plantation owners on sugar estates. Today, their descendants make up a brilliant, beautiful, abundant tapestry of the Guyanese nation. Indian indentured labourers came to these shores to work the sugar plantations after slavery was over, and they made enormous sacrifices to self-develop, educate themselves, and become a people of resourcefulness. Sugar, in fact, touches the lives of every Guyanese family, from the inception of the country’s history to today. It is, therefore, heartening to see the PPP/C Government pour its heart and soul into making the industry vibrant and alive.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha champions people of the land, and is dedicated to leading sugar back to its glory days. What could those glory days look like? With visionary thinking and a futuristic outlook, the sugar corporation could become the bedrock of a national innovation and research and development culture, of a new way of seeing what’s possible, and making it happen.

Sugar made the nation. And it is time for the nation to not only rescue sugar, but to transform the sugar corporation into a vibrant hub of creativity that looks at myriad ways of contributing to the socioeconomic future of Guyana.

Sugar could become the bedrock of a national chocolate industry, for example. Existing sugar factories could become innovation start-up hubs, where village folk meet to brainstorm start-up solutions, and have access to ‘WiFi’ and computers. This would transform villages across the nation. The fields are already under consideration for ethanol production; the ideas are endless of what’s possible.

The important thing is that Guyanese honour the role sugar has played in the history and development of this country, and are ready to tackle the challenges in the industry with zeal, passion, determination, and the willingness to make sure sugar remains an integral part of the Guyanese socioeconomic fabric.

Sugar estates were cultural centres, sports grounds, trade and academic training schools. With visionary leadership and a futuristic outlook, the industry could become the mecca of what’s possible in transforming from the old to the new world. Sugar could show Guyanese and the world that the old need not be abandoned and dismantled, but rather transformed into a hot new vibrant, alive, organic socioeconomic organism that Guyanese continue to embrace and love, and that maintains its amazing contribution to the welfare of citizens.
The face of the future of sugar depends on the nation’s ability to invent, create, and generate new social engines from old paradigms.