AGRICULTURE has long been regarded as the ‘backbone’ of the economy. We are blessed with rich and fertile lands, which over the decades have been used to provide us not only with food, but also as an important source of foreign exchange. Sugar, and to a lesser extent rice, have been the main contributors to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the years, even though it is true to say that agriculture’s share as a percentage of our GDP has been on the decline within recent years.
A significant part of that decline can be attributed to the misguided, and some may argue, vindictive policies of the previous APNU+AFC administration, which closed down four of the seven grinding sugar estates, including the Skeldon Estate on which billions of dollars were spent by the PPP/C administration to modernise. A completely new factory was constructed and hundreds of new lands were earmarked for preparation to provide canes to the new and modern sugar factory.
To say that the decision by the APNU+AFC to close down the sugar estates was short-sighted is to put it mildly. The economic and social fallout emanating from the closure of the estates was enormous, as thousands of people were instantaneously thrown in the breadline. Billions of dollars in machinery, tools and other capital items were allowed to rot, amounting to losses in the billions.
Why a government would choose to close down grinding sugar estates is a matter that sociologists and development practitioners would find difficult to find answers to, especially when seen against the background of an environment of high levels of unemployment and an agro-based economy which over the decades has been a major source of our foreign exchange earnings. Sugar, in its better days, was the source of employment for over 16,000 workers and apart from foreign exchange earnings, was also a provider of community healthcare, drainage and irrigation services and a host of other welfare services.
Under the APNU+AFC administration, the once thriving industry has been allowed to decay and with it the lives and fortunes of the several thousands of workers and their families who depended on the industry for a living. All of that, thankfully is about to change. Three of the four closed factories are soon to become fully operational and recruitment of staff has already commenced. Already, close to 700 persons have gained employment on the estates as the Guyana government redoubles efforts to revamp the once-shuttered sugar estates and bring them back to profitability.
This is indeed music to the ears of all Guyanese, but more so to sugar workers who once again can see light at the end of what, under the previous APNU+AFC regime, was seen as a long, dark tunnel. The intention of the management of the Guyana Sugar Company (GuySuCo) is not simply that of job creation, but to also return the industry as a viable economic entity through a well-coordinated and prudent management regime encompassing both the public and private sectors.
The Rose Hall Sugar Estate is expected to be the first of the three estates to be reopened and is expected to commence operations next year. The management of GuySuCo has already commenced a robust recruitment exercise for the various categories of field and factory workers to boost the existing workforce.
These are indeed forward-looking interventions by the current administration which will restore some backbone to the once ailing sugar industry and for that matter to the economy as a whole. The need for economic diversification cannot be overemphasised, especially at this time when the economy is experiencing some rebalancing to cater for the impact of the emerging oil and gas economy.
