Dear Editor,
The announcement on the sidelines of the energy conference by President Ali that Guysuco’s Enmore packaging plant plus 55 acres of cane lands would be leased to a fabricating company aiming to serve the oil and gas sector should have created a ruckus amongst Guyanese. But it didn’t. They had seen gov’ts selling out so much state assets without any consultation with the people that such action has become an acceptable norm. It seems that after voting a political party into power, they automatically own the country’s assets and can dispose of any at their pleasure. This particular piece of asset (Enmore packaging plant) was dubbed as the key to turn around the fortunes of Guysuco by the CEO, based on the lucrative price offered for packaged sugar. The leasing of this facility questions the sincerity of the PPP in their campaign promise to reopen the industry and bring it back to viability.
An article said that GAWU requested a meeting with Guysuco on the issue. Would they be talking to Sase Singh or Irfaan Ali? The real owners of Guysuco (the people of Guyana) remain languishing on the sidelines and would not be consulted.
Despite all the letters written in the media about the naysayers and the importance of the reopening and survival of the sugar industry, Seepaul Narine, GAWU’s general secretary did not offer a word of condemnation or regret about Guysuco losing this vital asset. The article clearly voices GAWU concern for the faith of the 30 workers at the plant as if continuity of union dues from them is all that matters.
Couldn’t this plant and 55 acres of land be sold by auction? Without public tendering, a vital packaging bond of a struggling state-owned corporation has been given over to a local and foreign partnership company in the name of local content.
Yours sincerely,
Rudolph Singh
