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REGION
Dear Editor,
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The Agriculture Minister, the Honourable Zulfikar Mustapha’s words will reverberate in the minds of Guyanese for a long time to come when he profoundly declared to the coalition in Parliament that sugar had “lost its taste” under the APNU/AFC Administration, but the “sweetness of sugar” will return under the PPP/C Government.
No doubt the coalition did everything in their power to make sugar bitter and unpalatable as the Minister reminded Khemraj Ramjattan of the ultimate insult he cast on the industry by scornfully referring to it as a “black hole” which was robbing the other sectors of financial resources. He even blamed the sugar industry for the wages and salaries woes of the public servants.
He unabashedly claimed that “cane sugar days are over and the rightsizing the coalition did was very much in order” but this was the same man who during the 2015 election campaign had promised the sugar workers 20 per cent wages increase and “vowed” to make sugar profitable again. What Ramjattan should have accepted is the fact that even the “right-sizing” was a miserable failure since the APNU/AFC never had the will to bring sugar back alive, they wanted it dead just to spite the sugar workers who are perceived as PPP/C supporters.
It is also evidenced that in his induced amnesiac state, Ramjattan did not mention
Dear Editor,
tration is swiftly moving to address essential matters of governance and to reverse many ills that the nation suffered in ways told and untold. Clearly, there is much to be addressed in moving the country forward, and in ensuring that no Guyanese is made to struggle in the dictatorial filth we found ourselves leading up to and postMarch 2, 2020.
As we welcome the United States of America Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Guyanese are indeed thankful to him and his ‘Good Office’, for their decisive role and highly appreciated interventions which aided a return of democracy in Guyana. This visit to our shores evidences a commitment of support for democratically elected Governments, establishes a platform for examination and removal of the weeds of discords, as well as the advancement of mutual developmental interests.
Understandably, matters of the ongoing budget would have assumed its pinnacled position on the priority list, since the last approval of appropriations was approximately two years ago. Lest we forget, albeit, providing $4.9 billion for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in this the findings of the multimillion-dollar CoI which his Government had carried out which recommended no closure of any estate but a five-year plan to turnaround the industry. When the coalition spoke about “right-sizing” it was just a synonym for the closure of the entire industry so they began to create excuses for that.
This vindictiveness is still evidenced when Ramjattan claimed during his debate speech that the PPP/C Government’s aim is to “reward” its political base. This is a typical case of “mouth open, story jump out!” Imagine even after all the sufferings his Government cast upon the sugar workers, their families and the various communities, he is still bent on echoing the Congress Place narrative feigning absolute amnesia to even the rhetoric which Granger himself spun about Guyana being the “sugar bowl” of the Caribbean. The “right-sizing” had resulted in a rapid decline in the annual sugar production and the losses became bigger even though meagre targets were set.
The industry produced the lowest amount in 2019 since 1923 and according to Minister Mustapha, 2020 will be far worse. It would seem that the coalition has a penchant for breaking its own record when it comes to underachievement and incompetence.
The Minister also made a very profound statement when he said that GuySuCo is more than about the profitability of the estates, it must be considered “beyond the balance 2020 budget, it is necessary and most opportune to objectively look at a holistic review of GECOM. There is no doubt that the organisation’s demonstrated performance in the recent elections, lacks the required level of transparency and accountability which has diminished the national and country image.
Contributing factors included the fact that Mr Granger and the PNC did not care. They were living their good lives and had the benefit of their own experience and good memory, of the particular role the Chairman of the GECOM played in facilitating dangerous and biased activities of the staff since 1973. They did their best to appoint their own darling Chairman and appoint special staff at GECOM, leading to the tremendous damage of the face and soul of the organisation. We can no longer go forward in this way!
Today this nation still bleeds after the PNC-elected Commissioners at GECOM kept their ‘foot’ on our people’s throats for more than five long months. Their roles were consistently in conflict with our constitutional intent and suffocating of the will of the Guyanese people. The complicit admittance by the Chief Elections Officer that he had overseen fraudulent practices, as well as his attempts to disenfranchise sheet” and must be seen as a “socio-economic entity”. He also provided vitally important reasons why any Government should ensure that sugar is kept alive quoting the example of the USA subsidising agriculture to the tune of billions annually. He stressed that monies allocated to GuySuCo must not be seen as “bailouts” but rather as a Government “taking care of the needs of the people”. No truer statement has ever been made and the Minister has made another indelible impression in the hearts of Guyanese.
Let Ramjattan digest these factual statements: the $30 billion “largesse” was meant to ensure that the fat cats are well-fed and the monies are squandered, filling the pockets of those in the SPU and by extension some in the Government. It must be painfully recalled that even though GuySuCo was given an average annual subsidy of $5 billion, all the estates were operational, foreign exchange in excess of $100 million US was garnered from exports, jobs were saved and workers were enjoying a reasonable standard of living, communities were thriving, and the US dollar was stabilised. In addition, there was little flooding, residents were getting assistance from GuySuCo, but today the resources-starved entity could hardly help itself. The CoI saw these benefits to the economy and advised against any closure! But how can we expect a man like Ramjattan to have this vision?
As with other ‘blood-sucking’ measures such as increased taxation and VAT which the coalition had used to erode the standard of living of Guyanese, Minister Mustapha made it pellucid that these “unconscionable measures” will be reversed not only by reopening three of the closed estates but will create a Wales Development Authority to work with former workers’ start-up agriculture value chains which will utilise agro-produce from the outlying areas to process them into value-added products. This will employ at least 3000 persons.
This is a visionary Minister thinking outside of the box with workable plans. Already the Rose Hall Estate has employed more than 400 dismissed sugar workers to resuscitate the estate and the same is being done at the other
Let the chips fall where they may
Our President Irfaan Ali-led Adminis
2 estates. The PPP/C Government has allocatover 115,000 legitimate voters is a travesty which demands the most detailed investigations.
The people of Guyana cannot continue to fund such contemptuous self-admitting fraudsters who may have succeeded, had it not been for the courts upholding the rule of law and the countering supportive roles played by the powerful Western diplomats in particular, and the international community at large. They stood firm in rejecting the abuse of our electoral system which clearly must be strengthened, and the necessary cleansing must be done with urgency along with the advancement of constitutional reforms. It is clear now how diplomats around the world can play a major role in solving ‘political’ issues in a peaceful way.
It was clear for all to see that the PNC with all their ‘rigging’ experience and bullying attitude, were hell-bent on stealing the 2020 elections in Guyana. They have proved to be a shameless bunch, who continue to demonstrate overwhelming measures of vengefulness with care and caution. Comparatively, it required the mature leadership of the PPP along with a total united embrace of the other contesting Parties to keep the peaceful struggle legal and effective. Never in the region and around the world has one witnessed such blatant and ed $5 billion for recapitalisation and operation of the estates. Imagine the financial strain and burden which the coalition has placed on the Government.
It’s ironical that the coalition had spent billions to close the estates and plunged the entire socio-economic strata of the country into Ramjattan’s “dark hole”. The former Finance Minister had said that the closed estates will not be “mothballed” but remain operational to attract “investors”. Well, most definitely he did not use mothballs but cannonballs since the current state of the closed estates will bear testimony to this.
The august Minister outlined the plans for GuySuCo for the next 5 years which will see the implementation of measures to promote a diversified agriculture-based economy; create more jobs and increase the income of farmers. He emphasised that this will be done by modernising and upgrading infrastructure, strengthening support services, robust marketing systems at local and international levels and increasing Guyana’s market share by tapping into the US$5 billion food import bill of the Caricom region. We have already seen that the relations between Guyana and the US are being greatly enhanced by the visit of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
It is an undeniable fact that the coalition had woefully neglected the agriculture sector as is evidenced by the volumes of irrefutable data which Minister Zulfikar dashed into the face of the APNU/AFC. Oil will be the panacea for all our social and economic ills, the coalition had reasoned, oblivious of the ‘oil curse’!
The coalition had been, for their entire term in office, piloting Guyana on the course of the oil curse which would have resulted by their wilful neglect and incompetence. Thankfully, this agriculture budget crafted and presented by the Minister will reverse this ‘oil curse’ route and bring back the sector to its former glory prior to the coalition unleashing its “weapon of mass destruction” on our beautiful country.
Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf
public attempt to steal the right to govern.
The consequences for such brutality must be decisive and deterring to those who have such clandestine interests in the future. This nation cannot afford to live through another 2020 episode with the current status of GECOM. Hence, the necessary changes must be made quickly so that we could have clean, free and fair elections. All the riggers and dishonest persons at GECOM must be made as examples so that the others must never attempt to do any cheating at elections.
It is known that since the December 21, 2018 passing of the No-Confidence Motion, the wicked rigging cabal started to perpetuate themselves in office. Their abuse of the Consolidated Fund was without restraint and it did not matter who suffered. It is, therefore, hoped that in the examination of these budget estimates, the facts and truth regarding constitutional and other breaches would expose the guilty parties.
I suggest that Mr Lowenfield should not be on the job after being charged and call for the strongest actions to be taken against the perpetrators including surcharging and garnishment, where these fall in the powers of the Assembly. In this unwarranted attack on the civility of our people, we must be thorough, decisive, and let the chips fall where they may.
