Dear Editor,
I would like to thank Dr. Henry Jeffrey for his kind remarks in a column published in your issue of 1st January 2020 entitled `The absence of strategic vision’ where he referred to my letter. However to my dismay I see that he is quoting me correctly as saying that in 2004, Guyana produced 235,000 tonnes of sugar. I would like to apologies both to your readers and to Dr Jeffrey for the typographical error, actually it was 325,000 tonnes, a substantial difference as you well know. This change does not reflect any real modification either to Dr Jeffrey’s presentation, or to my letter, in fact it reinforces our contention and highlights the depths to which we have descended i.e. from 325,000 tonnes in 2004 to less than 100,000 tonnes 15 years later. And frankly I was only referring to Booker Tate as an example. Dr. Jeffrey, today Tate is a totally different consultancy than it was when President Hoyte brought them here and I would actually suggest that given our conditions we would need a group assisting us in mechanical tillage and mechanical field operations and land preparation to up the current yields of cane in the industry, since I view this area as the one most implicated in our poor field performance. But in addition we will certainly have to be employing consultants who are visionaries to diversify the sugar industry, and not the current crop of failures occupying positions at NICIL.
There is one matter which I did not deal with directly in my missive but which however prompted me to come to the conclusion I came to that we do not have the managers to do much in our industry and in other areas, but it has been well known [actually dating back to the nationalization of the sugar industry in 1976 when most of the top managers associated with Bookers left] that migration has wreaked havoc in the management of Guyana at all levels. Not only in the sugar industry but everywhere else in this country; and I always view with mixed feelings all of these migrated Guyanese telling us that notwithstanding having deserted us when the going was tough, they are still true patriots and are willing to come back now that we may be entering a period of affluence, if indeed Trotman has left us in a position to so benefit from our own oil. I don’t object to them offering to come back, but those who were here battling, and their children, should be allowed to stand first in the pecking order.
I again apologise to all for the typo of the 2004 production. But I welcome Dr. Jeffrey’s invitation to continue to insist that we must have good governance created by strong institutions, as visualized by our constitution with highly trained and experienced Permanent Secretaries being the managers of our system as visualized by our laws, and not the ill-trained, incompetent and corrupt politicians on all sides. Our system of Governance does not visualize this, and it has been a not inconsequential reason for our current situation. We cannot allow it to continue.
If we as a nation can insist on these measures of strengthening our institutions, the end result to the winner-take-all politics we see in play now in this country will not be as acute, and all citizens will have an equal chance to sit at the table and participate as Guyanese brothers and sisters no matter who is in power.
Happy New Year to you and all your readers and indeed to all Guyanese.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Vieira
