Dear Editor,
I note the sugar union GAWU is calling for reopening of the closed sugar estates. One must recall that the government-owned GuySuCo had dominated the news when the Coalition government took power following the 2015 elections. The company had needed a huge bailout to cover its operational expenses. A commission had been set up. We learned that the world market price of sugar was 17 cents a pound, but the average cost of production was 38 cents. Later we learned that government had hired McKinsey to conduct a study to figure out the value of the assets and to find international investors to purchase some or all the sugar estates.
Well none was sold. A new government has been elected and assumed office two weeks ago. And, again GuySuCo needs another multi-billion-dollar bailout. How many times shall the government go around the mulberry bush – once, twice? And, for what purpose?
Spending money to perennially bail out GuySuCo is not a good idea. It is throwing good money down a black hole. It makes good sense to sell the four closed Sugar Estates for a symbolic $1 to DDL. Be done with sugar. Get government out of the sugar business. No more billion-dollar bailouts.
DDL is an iconic Guyanese-owned company. Unlike foreign investors there will be no repatriation of profits; all profits will be reinvested in Guyana.
DDL had bid for one or several estates, then withdrew its bid. DDL will continue to grow sugarcane and keep most or all the laid-off workers employed. DDL will maintain the estates’ physical infrastructure – irrigation canals, dams, bridges, factory buildings housing the sugar processing machinery – and equally important, put an end to the social blight that swept over the villages since the closure.
Where can you get a better deal than this? Where can you get a better company than DDL? They will even pay corporation tax on its profits. (ExxonMobil pays no taxes on its profits to the Government of Guyana).
I urge the Irfaan Ali government to put an end to this merry go-round. Sell those closed estates to GuySuCo for a symbolic $1 today. Government must demonstrate decisiveness in its decision making. Do the research. Make your case based on facts and sound reasoning. Get approval of parliament if necessary, but no more indecision.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
New York
