Prior to the APNU+AFC Coalition Government taking office in 2015, the IDB and the PPP government were working out a loan for the agricultural sector.

A portion of that loan sum which was agreed to by the IDB was for the trial of mechanisation of harvesting in the sugar sector.

These monies were obtained by the government from the IDB for allocation towards this capital purpose.Consequent upon discussions and a revisitation by GuySuCo’s officials on the issue this sum was never requested by GuySuCo from the Government although the allocation was there.

Firstly, the argument was that since these are the wettest estates in the country, mechanisation must be put on hold until further data is accumulated on the wetness of land and on the specifications of the machinery that is to be acquired. And, secondly, GAWU wanted to know how many workers will be displaced by mechanisation.Right up to the end of the year 2017 these questions were not answered by GuySuCo, nor was any request made by GuySuCo, resulting in the sum being reverted back to the IDB as unspent.

It is outrageous that the PPP through Bishop Juan Edghill now comes up with the cock and bull propaganda that the Coalition was not supportive of the mechanisation of the sector. That is what we had wanted and had been calling for rather than the perpetuation of the kind of slave labour in hand cutting.

It is evident that the PPP used its backdoor influence in GuySuCo to ensure there was no mechanisation, by the use of this sum because GAWU had argued it will displace employment opportunities of their support base.

To give this non-spending the spin, as the deceptive Bishop does, is neutered by the fact that in the half year of Coalition’s term in 2015, over $16BILLION was given to GuySuCo and then, in 2016, an additional $11BILLION was given in current expenditure.