The question of a bailout for the cash-strapped GuySuCo is to be taken to Cabinet on Tuesday, according to Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder and a forensic audit of the beleaguered corporation will be commissioned.
Holder told Stabroek News last evening that GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Rajendra Singh had provided a breakdown of the sum required to stave off an industry shutdown. This submission, according to Holder, was found to be “satisfactory enough” to be submitted to the new Cabinet for review and action.
Stabroek News had been told that the industry might need as much as $16b to stay afloat but Holder had said on Thursday that he was expecting this figure to decline when Singh presented more detailed information yesterday.
On Monday, Singh revealed to the sugar unions that GuySuCo’s financial woes were so dire that without an immediate inflow of money, operations would cease as of tomorrow.
The threatened imminent closure of the industry, which employs approximately 16,000 workers, has been seen as a major problem for the days-old APNU+AFC administration.
Holder believes that Singh’s disclosures are nothing more than a political gimmick. “No company suddenly realises that it only has finances to survive for a week. Common sense should tell you it’s just not possible and if GuySuCo’s board is trying to convince anyone of that then they should all be knocked off and thrown away,” Holder asserted.
He further noted that his analysis of the company showed that “GuySuCo has enough money and creditworthiness to survive until at least the middle of next month.”
In explaining how the new government plans to address the issue of a bailout, Holder noted that “the government is not a bank. If Cabinet on Tuesday approves the proposed amount, it will then go to Parliament, which will have to approve the release of funds. The Ministry of Finance can only release emergency funds which it might try to do in this case but there is no budget, the Ministry of Finance is still trying to determine how much money they have, so a release of funds is difficult at this point.”
Holder stressed that final decisions on the release of funds will be up to the Parliament which is expected to be convened by next weekend.
Any release of funds will, however, only be a short-term measure. In the long term the new government is committed to fulfilling its mandate as promised in the coalition’s 100-days plan. This means that “within three months a Commission of Inquiry will be convened to conduct a forensic audit of GuySuCo.”
“This commission,” according to Holder, “will determine the way forward for the industry.” “The members of the commission will formulate a plan for the salvaging of the industry which will be put into effect from 2016,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) at a press briefing yesterday called for GuySuCo to be declared a national disaster. Arguing that “the issues of the
industry transcend ministerial abilities,” GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis said that “what this nation needs is parliamentary review which must be opened for the public and stakeholders to have input on the state of the industry, its future and the workers’ wellbeing.”
Lewis, who espoused the belief that the present situation is representative of a “cultural madness which has historically seen GuySuCo being used by the PPP against non-PPP governments,” called for “sugar workers to hold their leaders and political bosses accountable and direct their passion and questions to those who have made fools of them.”
Lewis has called for the custodians of GuySuCo both in the present and recent past to be held accountable in the court of law for mismanaging the Welfare Fund, NIS contributions and the entity.
