PPP Hypocrisy and Corruption
In 2010, Bharrat Jagdeo declared that sugar is dead if the Skeldon Factory fails. In fact, he did not only say dead, he said dead dead. However, he promoted himself as the man to save the industry, by stepping in to fix all that was happening wrong at Skeldon. “So even if it means personally I have to get involved, I will get involved to ensure it is fixed,” Jagdeo declared. Well, he got involved, and Skeldon Estate died an inglorious death.
The sad thing about GUYSUCO, and the plight of sugar and sugar workers, is that it was not a sudden development. The PPP government had ample warning about the impending loss of the preferential European markets. They were aware of the dilapidated state of the sugar factories because of their failure to invest in effective maintenance and modernization of the equipment. They were fully cognizant of low yields because of depleted soils. They knew all this, yet they ignored all sounds advice on how to address the issue.
On March 10, 2004, the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Economic Affairs summoned the leadership of GUYSUCO for them to explain their strategic plan for the industry, given the impending termination of the preferential European markets. The GUYSUCO team comprised Ronald Ally, Michael Boast, Paul Bhim, and Michael Knight. Donald Ramotar and Komal Chand, both members of the committee, absented themselves from the meeting.
The GUYSUCO team presented details of their strategic plan which rested on three pillars; cost cutting, increased production, and the Skeldon Estate. They estimated that these pillars could have reduced the cost of product from the prevailing 28¢ per lb to around 18¢. They admitted that 18¢ was nowhere near the world market price of 7¢ or the cost of product in Brazil of 5¢. They argued that while their plan, even if 100% effective, would not result in profitability it would make a desperate situation a bit better.
However, the plan never appeared 100% implementable. The first major issue was the depleted soils at most of the estates. The GUYSUCO team acknowledged this problem but seemed constrained from doing anything substantial about it. For instance, the poor soils at Uitvlugt and Wales were discussed. GUYSUCO acknowledged the cane produced, at Wales especially, would have low sugar content, and would make the estate a burden on the company. They rejected the idea of retiring lands at these estates, but instead championed the fact that private cane farmers, who were supplying about 30% of the cane at Wales, were being paid according to sugar content, not the weight of the cane. They rejected the idea of diversification or investment in training of workers so they could smoothly transition out of the industry.
They acknowledged that the industry would be more competitive if they aggressively address inefficiencies. For instance, they rejected the idea of training workers for their eventual planned transition out of the industry, but championed staff reduction through attrition. Yes, the PPP plan for strategic cost saving in GUYSUCO was attrition.
The skeleton estate was supposed to be the heavy lifter in this strategic plan. However, this too had identified issues. GUYSUCO claimed they would transport cane from Blairmont and Enmore to meet the demands of the Skeldon Estate. They had glorious plans to open new cane lands and encourage private cane farming on the Corentyne. How transportation costs, and start up costs, for the new cane cultivations would impact cost of production were never fully explained. The plan was weak.
It was not surprising that just a mere 6 years later Jagdeo was lamenting the unraveling of the strategic plan. However, it was all just talk. Jagdeo and the PPP knew that Skeldon was going to be a white elephant. Like in Equatorial Guinea, this US$200M boutique project was just to create the opportunity for kickbacks. Sugar workers would have been better off if this US$200M was invested in training of workers for transition out of the industry, start-up loans for businesses, and opening of new lands near existing estates. However, these programs which would have been benefiting workers directly were not as conducive for corruption like the shining white elephant at Skeldon.
It is amazing that after putting corruption in front of the welfare of sugar workers, the PPP is now crying crocodile tears. Jagdeo declared that sugar was dead once Skeldon failed, but since 2004 he thought that sugar was going to die, because he was told the estate in Skelton was the going to be a failure. He thought so, and the PPP thought so, but the Skeldon Estate was never about the welfare of the workers.
