GuySuCo’s board must say goodbye for gross incompetence – PM
Optimism is now non-existent in relation to the Board of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). The mounting accusations of incompetence were surely not enough to awaken it from the “twilight zone” it had dug itself into while the sugar industry floundered. Its end will be swift under the new administration.
Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, yesterday told Kaieteur News that the Board will have to say its grand farewell within a few days for such levels of gross incompetence. “As far as I am aware, the board is supposed to be gone by month end, but surely the sugar industry cannot go on with this board. It will be gone. That is certain.” Nagamootoo, also the Minister of Information, emphasized that the coalition Government, A Partnership for National Unity plus the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), will ensure that everything will be done to keep sugar “alive and well” and floating above the sea of bankruptcy. He vowed to turn the fortunes around. Nagamootoo argued that the sugar industry has been badly injured by poor financial management, ill-informed investment decisions, conflict of interest and corruption at the point of procurement. He opined, too, that the roots of these problems lie at the interface of its Board of Directors and Management. Earlier this week, GuySuCo claimed that it has no money to pay junior and senior staffers for this month and will be forced to close the industry by Sunday, unless it finds some. According to a joint statement titled “GuySuCo may cease operations”, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) said that they were informed at a meeting Monday by GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Rajendra Singh, that the company was unable to pay staffers for this month. Also present at the meeting, the two unions said, were members of GuySuCo’s Industrial Relations Department. “Further, Dr. Singh indicated that the corporation might have to cease its operations on all estates with effect from (Sunday) May 31, 2015 unless funding to the corporation becomes available within a few days. Should the Corporation cease its operations, the CEO explained all employees – waged and salaried – except security personnel would not be provided with work from (Sunday) May 31, 2015.” The CEO also advised the unions that the Government has been apprised of the situation. The unions said that it believes that the ceasing of operations by the corporation would further jeopardize the state of the industry and impact negatively on some 16,000 workers of the industry. The two unions urged for Government to take action at this crucial time. Shaik Baksh, a former education minister, was appointed as GuySuCo’s new Chairman while several past members were retained under the previous administration, the People’s Progressive Party. Some of those who were retained include Dr. Dindyal Permaul, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA); Keith Burrowes, Executive Chairman, Board of Directors, Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest); Badri Persaud, Managing Director, Guyana Oil (Guyoil) and Geeta Singh-Knight. The Prime Minister said that it is absolutely clear that the CEO, Baksh and its old members cannot do much, if anything, to improve the company’s performance. The APNU faction of the coalition had previously criticized the composition of the board while it was in Opposition, saying that if one seriously considers the poor performance of the past members and the ‘questionable’ history of its new Chairman, then the supposedly new team could in no way be seen as credible enough to ensure the revival of the ailing state-owned company. The partnership had lashed out at Baksh’s appointment, saying that he was too closely associated with some major corruption scandals to be credible as a change agent for the kind of new directions needed by GuySuCo. In similar vein, Geeta Singh-Knight, APNU said, had said presided over the collapse of the Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) Guyana. Keith Burrowes was also bashed by the new administration for an unwillingness to provide answers about the role of the investment company in relation to lucrative concessions received by Chinese-owned Bai Shan Lin, among other companies.
