Mechanisation will not displace labourers - Ramsammy

Monday, 30 December 2013, Source

ALTHOUGH levels of mechanisation are already being seen in the sugar industry, Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, maintains that while this is necessary, it will not replace manual labour.

Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

He said: “The fact is that under perfect conditions, the pool of workers that is available in Guyana for the sugar industry is not sufficient to support a 100 per cent manual operation. Even if we adopt a policy that we are only going to do manual operations, we do not have the labour pool to support this. There is no dispute over this. I think everyone has accepted this.”

The minister explained that the government’s policy has always been to introduce a level of mechanisation into the sector, but not in a manner to displace workers.

“GUYSUCO (Guyana Sugar Corporation) decided some time ago, long before me and long before Minister Robert Persaud, that there has to be a level of mechanisation and this has been done, but of course not in a manner to displace workers,” Ramsammy said.

He added that in reviewing the last 10 years, the labour pool has been reducing.

“This is a problem that will not go away and so we have to accelerate the level of mechanisation….at every estate there is a level of mechanisation,” Ramsammy explained.

ACCELERATION
The minister pointed out that in some of the estates, mechanisation is limited to the bell loaders, which assist in picking up canes that have been harvested, while in other estates, such as Enmore and Skeldon, there are also mechanical harvesters.

He said: “There is between 30 and 40 per cent manual loading, a cut and load, across GuySuCo since the majority of loading is done by the bell loaders in all estates.We need two bell loaders in all the estates, because the truth is even where there is the cut and load approach, the workers prefer to have the bell loaders used. The truth also is we need mechanical harvesters and all estates will have to have a level of mechanical harvesting being done.”

Ramsammy reiterated that this will be done in a manner to ensure that workers are not displaced.

According to him, as the acceleration of mechanisation advances, workers will be better trained to take up functions as operators and technicians of the machines.

He made it clear that mechanisation will support the industry’s turnaround, in terms of more efficient operations.

Ramsammy said: “Part of the problem here is that the amount of mechanisation we need, that will not displace any worker, is still not in place and this is because it is a huge investment to buy the machines and the way the land is prepared is designed for manual labour and there has to be some redesigning.

“GUYSUCO has been slow in completing the redesigning of the lands, largely because of the investment that is needed, and what has been done in 2013 is the acquisition of machines.”

He stated that to date 10 excavators and 12 fully equipped tractors for land preparation have been purchased and a tender is out for an additional 20 tractors, while in 2014 the focus will be on acquiring a few more excavators.

“These will all support the redesigning of the land and help in accelerating the mechanisation process,” the minister said.

The acceleration process in some estates, he added, will be dependent on the labour situation.

“This move will have to do with answering the question of whether we have the manpower,” Ramsammy said.

He explained that the entire turnaround process has been looked at largely from the point of view of increasing production, but he maintained that mechanisation is also a major part of the process, especially as it relates to improving efficiency.

“Mechanisation is also in terms of shorter grinding season, fewer opportunity days….we have to increase the machines also to respond to the weather challenges….in its entirety the focus is[to] improve efficiency,” Ramsammy noted