Issue #2 Volume #41
Combat Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)
Editorial
Integrity
The concept of integrity, personal and collective, which has always been important, has seen renewed focus in recent times. At the time of preparing this editorial, the nation was still caught in the throes of the elections fiasco, which has now dragged on for some one hundred and twenty-plus days. Indeed, as many have remarked, it must be a world record of some sorts that a nation with much less than a million voters cannot have its elections results declared. It is not a case where the results are unknown. In fact, the results are widely known to all Guyanese, and even those beyond our shores. The reality of the situation is that there are those among us who, from all appearances, cannot, for their own reason/s, accept the will of the people. This is a most disturbing feature, as we now commence this third decade of the 21st Century. The fact that persons who deem themselves as leaders, who are expected to be responsible, chose to ignore, and we daresay sideline, the views of the population as expressed by their votes, in our view, cannot be seen as having integrity or any sort of decency. Of course, the concept of integrity also seems to be alien to others outside of the political realm as well. Certainly, anyone who even has a sliver of integrity would not have sought to impose or embrace results that disregard the will of the voting population. But, again, we confront the sad reality that some of those who are entrusted to uphold our democratic culture are really rotten to the core. They lack any sort of integrity or trustworthiness, and cannot be counted upon to perform their jobs in an impartial manner, as is expected of them. Then we see, too, those who know no bound as they promote their deceit and chicanery. They have gone to extreme and unheard-of lengths as they actively promote the snatching of democracy. Some, unbelievably, have even invoked religion and appear to claim they are anointed to rule the country, as if it were a monarchy. They have knowingly engaged in the promotion of false narratives, going to the point of saying to all who will listen, without any hesitation or second-thoughts, they succeeded in the polls, fully-well perverting the reality and the true electoral results, which are embraced by every credible observer and international organization and ally. The lack of integrity has seen those engaged in mischief-making attacking, in the crudest of ways, those who chose to speak truthfully. They have thrown away the proverbial rule book and have disregarded long-standing norms and practices as they launch vitriolic attacks on those whom they perceive to be averse to them. No one, whether they be a diplomat, a foreign Head of State, or political leader, has been spared, and their tongue-lashing is plainly an embarrassment to all Guyanese. Continued on page two (2) COMBAT Jan-Mar, 2020
April-June, 2020
First crop falls short by 9,500 tonnes - factory maintenance compromised
The GuySuCo has been facing difficulty in realising cane yields and factory reliablity. Both major areas of operation are well below acceptable levels and have severely hamstrung the belgeauered industry. Monies borrowed and apparently available to alleviate some of the issues have been caught in tussle between the borowers and the sugar corporation and the festering issue has not been apprehended by the Goverment for unbeknownst reasons
GuySuCo’s 2020 first crop at the three (3) operable estates- Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt - has now concluded after an extension by several weeks. Information reaching the GAWU informs that sugar production reached only 37,013 tonnes. The GuySuCo had set itself a target of 46,475 tonnes sugar, thus the industry recorded a shortfall of 9,462 tonnes sugar. We learnt that production from each estate was as follows:Estate Albion Blairmont Uitvlugt Total
Target 23,089 13,976 9,410 46,475
Actual 16,802 11,864 8,344 37,013
Variance (6,287) (2,112) (1,066) (9,462)
Alarmingly, the industry continues to underperform. It was disheartening to learn that no estate achieved even 90 per cent of its target. For our Union, and more so the thousands of sugar workers, this is most distressing. Additional information obtained by the GAWU indicate that, as at mid-May, 2020, cane yields are far below the Corporation’s planned objective as stated in its Strategic
Plan. The information revealed that Albion produced 57.86 tonnes cane per hectare (TcH) as against a target of 77.59 TcH; Blairmont produced 69.90 TcH versus a target of 82.59 TcH and Uitvlugt produced 57.64 TcH compared to a target of 75.76. In addition, the information received indicate that, overall, factory performance was far below acceptable standards. Again, as at mid-May, the three (3) factories in operation operated at an average of 95 hours per week against a target of 140. Frequent factory breakdowns has been plaguing the GuySuCo for several crops now. The GAWU has pointed out previously that factory failures continue unabated while the Corporation boasts an expanded staff structure at its Factory Operations Department. Certainly, it brings into serious question the functioning and output of this department, which we have learnt is loaded with many retirees. With the out-of-crop season now in progress, maintenance activities have commenced at factories. On this score, the GAWU’s anxiety was heightened after it learnt Continued on page two (2) PAGE ONE