Wales’ closure is a “big mistake” – former President Ramotar

– says investment needed to restore industry

Former President Donald Ramotar has stated that the sugar industry has a bright future and instead of shutting down the nominal amount of factories that are left, Government needs to invest in the sector.

Ramotar was at the time speaking with Guyana Times International on the recent decision to close the Wales Factory, which he said is a big mistake that will not only reap short-term effects but will see the country suffering in the long-run as well.

“I think it is a big mistake to try to close the Wales Estate at this time and I believe the sugar industry still has a bright future. Of course it has its problems, but if you go back into the history of sugar, you will see that there have been periods when it went into problems but it has always been able to come out of difficulties, and so too I believe that now the difficulties that it has, it can come out of them without closing any of the Estates,” he stated.

According to the former President, by shutting down the Wales Factory, not only will sugar workers be put on the breadline but their families as well as the community will be affected. He noted that the closure will unnecessarily put the workers out of employment when the industry can be restored to its previous viable state.

Ramotar, who was previously a member of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Board of Directors, further outlined that Wales is one of the major areas for cane farming and the closure will affect the farmers.

Investment

The former President believes that with sufficient investment, the industry can be placed back on its feet. “My own personal view is that there is a big bright future for sugar and what it needs is investment at this point in time.”

In its 2016 Budget, Government has announced that Gy$9 billion was allocated to the industry to “assist the industry in its recovery and modernisation programme”. However, Ramotar noted that he had promised during the 2015 election campaign to inject some Gy$20 billion into the sector.

Moreover, Ramotar pointed out that the major troubles the industry is facing are being fuelled by international factors, such as low and fluctuating sugar prices and changing trading arrangements, particularly in Europe.

Furthermore, he recognised that the sugar industry has been plagued with problems, such as climate change, which has affected the production process. He noted that in the 1990s, the opportunity days of doing work in the field on sugar were 120 in Berbice and 110 in Demerara but this has changed over the years due to climate change. Currently, Berbice only has 80 days while Demerara has about 75.

Ramotar highlighted another issue that has affected the sugar industry – the loss of labour over the years. He explained that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administrative had improved the quality of the economy with rice and mining, even construction growing at a rapid pace; hence a lot of the labour was attracted away from the sugar industry.

“At one time, in many areas sugar was the only form of employment but over the years this changed with many alternatives being created,” he said while adding that the current Government needs to do some level of mechanisation in the fields to supplement the labour shortage that exists and that is anticipated as the economy continues to grow.

Diversification

On the other hand, the former Head of State posited that the current Administration needs to take immediate actions to sustain the sugar sector. Ramotar even recommended that Government diversify the sector in order to make it viable once again.

He outlined that there are a lot of possibilities that GuySuCo can go into other than sugar. Ramotar pointed to the fact that the Skeldon Estate is currently generating electricity and so Berbice is getting most of its energy from Skeldon with co-generation. He noted a lot of co-generation project can also be done at the Albion and Enmore Estates. “All of these are possibilities to earn GuySuCo more money,” he posited.

Moreover, the former President said that GuySuCo has started to package sugar, which was a very good move since it improves the quality and prices.