By Whitney Persaud –
Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said despite the fact that a turnaround plan exists to change the fortunes of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), there is still a lot more to be done.
He made this acknowledgment Tuesday evening during the examination of his sector’s budget in the Committee of Supply. Dr Ramsammy was asked a series of questions by various opposition Members of Parliament, including Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Khemraj Ramjattan, who asked about the availability of the plan and its focus. Ramjattan, during the consideration of the estimates made clarifications about Gy$ 1 billion that has been allocated towards the corporation’s enhancement.
“Mr Chairman, Gy$ 1.3 billion of the 2012 allocation went towards providing retroactive payment for on-the-job evaluation that the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) negotiated for the workers in 2012 and to pay creditors for fertilisers among others,” he said.
Minister Ramsammy also gave further clarifications on the breakdown of the monies that were given to GuySuCo during the period 2012. He informed that Gy$ 796 million went to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Gy$ 525 million towards the payment of May-June salaries, Gy$ 1 billion went to crop financing and Gy$ 142 million was spent on the Bosch Engineering contract for the Skeldon Sugar Factory repairs.
Challenges
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), shadow human services minister Volda Lawrence asked the minister whether the Gy$ 1 billion for the sugar company in 2013 would see the company coming out of its discrepancy, unlike the situation in 2012 which saw the industry facing back-to-back challenges.
Lawrence also questioned the minister if by asking for Gy$ 1 billion alone for the industry, it would mean that he would be lobbying for supplementary provisions later this year and the minister answered this is not the case. Rather, steps will be taken to see the industry make a turn for the better.
Meanwhile, APNU’s shadow finance minister Carl Greenidge sought answers pertaining to the modernisation and asked where the Gy$ 1 billion would fit as it relates to the company’s upgrading.
Dr Ramsammy admitted that the previous turnaround plan for the sugar industry was not as productive as government would have wanted it to be, however, he said a revised plan will seek to address the shortcomings of the first plan.
“Indeed, the turnabout plan of 2012 has not given us the results that we expected, so I am not going to stand here and say it did. There is a revised plan that we are working on and some meetings have been held and a draft strategy is being prepared. It is my intention and I have been talking to the board that we must now open that for further inputs once the draft is prepared,” he noted.
Drainage pumps
Minister Ramsammy was also asked by APNU parliamentarian Dr Rupert Roopnaraine to provide to the House a breakdown of how Gy$ 7.1 billion of the funding allocated to drainage and irrigation in 2012 was spent.
AFC’s Moses Nagamootoo questioned why only Gy$ 595 million, of the over Gy$ 2 billion allocated for drainage and irrigation in 2012 under capital expenditure, was spent.
Minister Ramsammy explained that these covered allocations to the Northern Relief Channel and the procurement of the 14 pumps under the Indian line of credit programme.
He said the monies were indeed under-spent, but explained that this was because the ministry only makes payment following the verification of completed works on these two projects.
