The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) says it does not support the privatization of the sugar industry, as this will do the industry more harm than good. Secretary of that body, NAACIE General Secretary Kenneth Joseph, told Guyana Times International that privatisation is a failed experiment in many Caribbean countries.
His comments came a day after presidential candidate of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), retired Brigadier David Granger, said he would privatise the sugar industry if elected president of Guyana.
“I would like to get out of state-owned media, state-owned petroleum distribution, state-owned sugar. I don’t think this is the concern of the state… I don’t think there is any place for state ownership of those things anymore; certainly not under David Granger,” he said, while addressing a business luncheon organized by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) on Wednesday 11th May.
David Granger
However, Joseph, head of NAACIE — a union representing some 8000 sugar workers who are mainly clerical and factory employees — said experience has shown that privatising several companies in Guyana was a mistake. “We won’t support that at all,” Joseph insisted. He noted that FITUG will be seeking an audience with Candidate Granger for clarification of his statement. “If any political party feels that it could encourage workers to vote by saying this, it is failing from the beginning. I don’t think any sugar worker would want to support that.”
The union leader considers the implications of privatisation much graver than are immediately apparent, since he thinks the livelihood of thousands could be threatened if this idea is pursued. A unionised worker of NAACIE pays a monthly due of $700, and Joseph said workers recognise and support the actions taken by GuySuCo to improve the sugar industry. Workers’ support to the sugar industry comes despite the quarrels between the unions and GuySuCo, Joseph pointed out. He also said there were instances when privatised sugar industries in the Caribbean had to be rescued by the state after they had failed.
Confirmation
Skeldon sugar factory
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said Granger’s suggestion to sell-off the sugar industry confirms the suspicions that any opposition party that forms the government will shut down the local sugar industry in Guyana. “The PNCR leadership and those in the JOPP need to say if they share the view that sugar and more than 25,000 people who depend on the industry will be put on the breadline,” Persaud added. He believes that Granger’s position reflects a lack of vision and concern for the welfare of thousands of ordinary Guyanese. “Daily, the opposition is exposing its lack of care and compassion for the rural people of Guyana,” the agriculture minister declared. Over the years, sugar industries around the world have been faced with rough times after the European Union reformed its agriculture policy, which saw the removal of preferential treatment previously offered to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar producing states. Many were forced to close their industries as a result of price cuts. Guyana loses approximately Gy$9 billion per annum from this reform.
Recently, renowned economist Professor Clive Thomas explained to this newspaper that there is no future for the sugar industry in its current state, as it is currently experiencing a ‘terminal decline’. Professor Thomas argued that, as part of the solution, government should consider further diversifying the sugar industry in an attempt to deal with the multi-faceted problems it is currently facing.
