Loss of EU aid more proof of sugar mismanagement

- AFC

The Alliance For Change (AFC) has criticized the administration over the loss of $3.8B in European Union aid for the sugar industry.

Guyana will lose out on the aid after government failed to reach certain commitments and according to the AFC, the sugar industry, which requires a large dose of capital injection, could ill-afford this.

In a statement, the party said that the aid is needed to maintain the efficiency of the production infrastructure as well as to address the ongoing labour issues. The party said too that the loss of the funding as a result of the non-implementation of commitments is unacceptable. “The AFC believes that such funding could have been instrumental in sorting out the technical difficulties that have bedeviled the Skeldon flagship factory,” it said.

The party recalled statements made by GAWU President Komal Chand last October, when he raised the issue of persistent setbacks at the Skeldon factory while noting that it was enough to reasonably call for an inquiry. Chand’s concern about the low production level in the industry was also noted, in addition to his comment about mismanagement. AFC concluded that the loss of the 14 million euros, a component of the Accompanying Measures funding, is another tangible manifestation of rampant mismanagement. The party emphasized that EU price cuts that were instituted last year have been devastating enough and it charged that all efforts ought to have been made to manage the repercussions of the loss. Referring to statements made earlier this year by Dr. Clive Thomas in Stabroek News about the industry being unsustainable in its present form, the AFC said there is a need for a national discussion on the future of the sector in Guyana.

It also criticized the government for failing to anticipate global changes and challenges that would eventually lead to the sugar price cuts under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). “Secondly, to add insult to injury, the PPP now fails to even collect the short-term European relief that is intended to act as a buffer for the sugar price reductions owing to the EPA,” the party said. It also endorsed the call by sugar workers last month for a commission of inquiry into their living standards “which will in turn make concrete recommendations for the improvement of labour relations.”

Further, the AFC said reform to the sugar industry must include diversifying into alternative production activities. In this vein, the party proposed a national ethanol mandate which will allow GuySuCo to supply ten percent ethanol to be mixed with imported gasoline, noting that this policy can save the Demerara and West Berbice sugar estates while creating new manufacturing jobs. “We in the AFC believe that the PPP has brought us to a moment of great challenge and our Action Plan will create the opportunities out of that challenge by focusing on wiping out the mis-management, facilitating the private sector to create jobs and arresting crime so that more investors can invest in Guyana,” the party added.