Dear Editor,
It is clear the opposition political parties, namely the PNCR and AFC with their presidential candidates have no clue about the dynamics of the sugar industry and the important role it plays in Guyana, or else they are just playing ignorant of these realities to dupe unsuspecting individuals during this period.
These parties have been comparing production figures from 2005 onwards to those of 1992. However what these individuals have not been telling the public is that in 2005 Guyana suffered its worst natural flood disaster in its history. The entire cultivation on the low-lying coastland was naturally affected with both housing and agriculture areas being under water for weeks.
When one’s entire cultivation is affected in such a way and also given the scale of such an operation, how does anyone in their right senses expect production to bounce back in a handful of years, given the fact that sugar cane is a cycle production with about 5 ratoons (5 harvesting crops) in the lifespan of a sugar cane plant?
After such a disaster, one just does not go and plough an entire cultivation and plant new canes and expect within a year, production will be back to normal. This has to be done in a cycle to ensure the factories get a supply of cane for both crops annually. Every year, the entire industry sets as a benchmark to replant at least 25% of its entire cultivation and even this is a difficult task.
Let’s not be fooled into believing that the unpredictable weather, inclusive of both droughts and floods from 2005 up until recently has not affected the industry. Does one not recall that only last year the industry was affected by a drought from 2009, where canals were dry and large areas of canes suffered from stunted growth or died? Can they not recall images of several tractors pulling punts loaded with canes over mud in the canals all the way to the factories as the water had dried up? Can one not recall that the conservancies which feed most of this cultivation were also at their lowest levels so natural drainage was not a reality? For those who are now using the 2010 production figures to mislead the public, I ask them how can the facts stated above not affect sugar production? And, I am not including the sudden change of weather from dry to wet, including flood conditions which severely affected harvesting operations which went close to the end of the year. How could wet weather not affect production when in the process of taking canes out to the factories using tractors to pull punts in the canals the water-logged mud dams are damaged, then trucks have to traverse those very same dams to take in and bring out sugar workers and other supply vehicles and the cane loaders.
How can the cane loaders work in wet fields during the rains, and does one also expect work to proceed smoothly for our workers in such conditions? How can you burn canes to harvest in wet conditions, does this not affect your harvesting plan? When it rains, the extra trash and mud brought in with the canes makes processing more difficult and could also lead to factory failure. These are just some of the dynamics we speak about in the sugar industry when we talk about weather.
In the end all these factors play a role in your final production figure but production aside, there are more important factors in the industry which have been ignored by these overnight sugar experts in the opposition camps.
They have identified themselves as amateurs as they keep using production as the sole gauge of rebuilding efforts in the industry and more recently they are jumping on the attendance figures.
Firstly, there is the old industry saying that sugar is made in the fields and not the factory. Over the past few years, GuySuCo has attained rather progressive replanting figures annually and this bodes well for future crops. In fact, the canes were in the ground last year to make in excess of 280,000 tonnes of sugar and this year in excess of 300,000 tonnes. This cannot be disputed and what this indicates is that on the agriculture side there has been significant improvement to achieve such levels. This is a good indication of a turnaround in the industry.
Hence the challenge is really from the field to the factory, and this is where the poor weather has hit hard coupled with work stoppages. Despite being cash strapped, recognizing the importance of maintaining its factories significant finance and work have gone in to ensure critical areas in the factories were addressed.
This initiative has paid off as these factories have been working almost continuously since the start of the 2nd crop last year, with some short intermittent breaks mainly due to the weather, and all levels of factory workers and engineers must be recognized for their good work and we look forward to greater achievements in the second crop as the industry marches towards the 300,000 tonnes target.
Usually when confronted by these facts these opposition elements would resort to the Skeldon factory and the problems experienced there. What they fail to recognize is that just like the industry, Skeldon also has a different set of dynamics. To begin with it is the flagship estate for the future plans of the industry in terms of mechanization. What this means is that in terms of wet weather, it will be affected the most. However, should good weather prevail production here will surpass all the other estates. The return of the number 2 boiler as signalled by the GuySuCo CEO recently in time for the 2nd crop is good news for the industry as it will increase final production figures there boosting their chances for a 200,000 tonnes 2nd crop.
It is also heartening to know that work is still ongoing to remedy the remaining ills at the factory, and I have learnt that production figures have been picking up steam there over the past few weeks. What I would like to recommend to GuySuCo is rather than work the factory on a crop by crop basis knowing that the estate is susceptible to the weather, they should rather work year round based on the weather conditions rather than a traditional crop system, thereby taking full advantage of the dry weather and improving the consistency of production. Maybe this is their line of thought in extending beyond the traditional end of the 1st crop to maximize the advantage of the good weather, and it’s nice to know that for the first time in about a decade and despite the weather, the industry will achieve 100,000 tonnes in its 1st crop and even go beyond that figure. Congratulations to all those in the sugar industry, and for those who wish to see it closed they haven’t begun to understand the many other areas of support to this nation by GuySuCo. One presidential candidate hopes to create more employment by literally putting thousands of people out of jobs in his plan to reduce government’s presence in certain sectors and reduce its financial involvement.
What he doesn’t realize is that all those thousands of miles of waterways which effectively drain from the conservancy to the sea and the pumps which discharge the water are maintained by GuySuCo, and hundreds of communities have developed around them over the years.
Those many grounds which continue to produce our outstanding sportsmen and women are maintained by GuySuCo. By commencing a plan to modernize every aspect of its operations it is also creating many jobs for the youths of this nation, including those at its Port Mourant training centre who are taken in by batches every year. These are just but a few of the areas in which GuySuCo is helping to develop this nation.
From a business standpoint it is clear these experts are way out of their league as with the worldwide phenomenon of climate change major sugar producers are being affected every year. In the past three years, Pakistan and India have been affected by both drought and floods and only last year Brazil was devastated by floods on more than one occasion. Even the United States was not spared as sugar producing states were affected by the unprecedented winter freeze in late 2010 which devastated agricultural production resulting in food shortages and huge financial losses. These increasing shortages of sugar on the world market have seen its price increase significantly and it was last year they were at their highest ever. With the EU price cuts, the situation has been exacerbated as several African and Caribbean sugar producing countries (ACP) have opted out or scaled down their sugar production, with Trinidad, St Kitts and Barbados being prime examples. What this means is that the gaps created in those markets will also have to be filled, thus the prospects of sugar over the next 10 years are very promising from a business standpoint. Should GuySuCo achieve its 300,000 tonnes target for 2011, this will undoubtedly be a significant boost to its financial operations. Predicting this quite a few years ago, the authorities made a masterstroke to invest in the Enmore Packaging Plant since if the price of bulk sugar increases one can only imagine the cost for packaged sugars. And with the sugar production prospects looking even better in the coming years, experts are correct in being confident that the situation the industry found itself in after the 2005 floods will be quickly reversed and the industry will actually begin to turnover quite a significant profit for the benefit of its workers and the national economy.
Now with this in mind, it is clear that the Grangers and Ramjattans and their cohorts are completely clueless about sugar and its importance to Guyana. God help this country if they are ever allowed in any position of authority after all the hard work to rebuild this nation.
Yours faithfully,
Leroy Forde
