Will this shakeup be simply a chastisement while leaving everyone in place? Someone recently wrote abouut the Sugar Industry having too many “square pegs in round holes”. Perhaps the shakeup might whittle away the square pegs so that they fit better in the round holes, or even that the round holes are reshaped.

One attribute possessed by NO Guysuco manager at any level is that of controlling the weather. Make no mistake about it. The Industry’s performance is heavily influenced by the weather patterns, and this has changed significantly. Very rarely does the Industry experience these days the clearcut two wet seasons and two dry seasons, the presence of adequate moisture for growth, and the absence of moisture form ripening and harvesting, generally occurring at the most propitious times. Unfavourable weather is not an excuse, but s reality in soberly assessing the Industry’s performance.

Of course, industrial strife makes matters even worse. Industrial harmony, unlike the weather can be regularised. Invariably, however, it seems, the management of Guysuco is the one blamed, yet we are told that the Industry has TWO partners. The Unions themselves have hierarchical structures, from their presidents down to the shop-stewards. How the Unions confront the shared issues besetting THEIR Industry, be it Commodity Pricing, Weather, Skills, there are elements of management involved. A decline in the Industry’s performance must also weigh heavily on the Unions’ shoulders.

Is there not a case for a management shakeup here too?