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Spugum

We have a CEO who is equally destructive

October 31, 2021

Dear Editor

I have been an employee at LBI Head Office for the past 25 years and I am nearing pensionable age but what I have overheard and seen happening there has never happened before. Many Chief Executive Officers came and went and GuySuCo had remained resilient but under this current CEO, things are falling apart rapidly not only due to the fact that he knows nothing about sugar but this is worse when his crass, uncouth, arrogant and dictatorial behaviour is brought into the equation.

Yesterday, I witnessed an unprecedented outburst of anger and vile behaviour from the CEO himself directed at a Senior Officer in the Procurement Department who has been there for more than 20 years which makes his contribution and experience invaluable. The man was angrily chased out of the meeting for explaining that the CEO was wrong in his submission. The CEO was angrily shouting. ‘Get out! Get out before I call the security!’ This outburst lasted a while. Sad to say the man resigned. Everyone around the Training building could have heard this tirade loud and clear. This is not the behaviour a senior executive officer should have but that is normal behavior for him.

This scenario was also played out a few days ago when two other senior managers were met with the same fate and forced to resign. Prior to this, the Senior Communications Officer was dismissed for explaining to the CEO that he was wrong, because it was he (the CEO) who had breached the Procurement guidelines and not her. There is a long line of competent Head Office and other senior employees who were dismissed or forced to resign. This includes people from the factory and the field departments.

How can GuySuCo go forward when this deliberate brain-drain is being engineered by the CEO himself? He should have been tapping into the vast knowledge of these people and building a workable strategic plan but instead he sees them as a threat. He wants to be always right but he needs to be aware that a man must know his limitations. My question is: Where is GuySuCo going? We have suffered a huge flood, we are suffering from a pandemic and now we have a CEO who is equally destructive. I am an Afro- Guyanese who voted for the present Government because of what the Coalition did to the sugar industry but now I am in a quandary as what my next move will be. We must not allow GuySuCo to be destroyed from within. Billions of taxpayers’ dollars will go down the drain if the President does not act now.

Sincerely,
Patrick Lewis

https://www.stabroeknews.com/2...equally-destructive/

Replies sorted oldest to newest

SpugumJunior Member

billions of dollars spent on this clown show at GuySuco

11/1/213:39 AM

Ali Khan AzadNew Member

When I read the headline I was thinking that it was Demerara Guy and his scrap metal hydro empire that they were talking about.

11/1/215:43 AM

DjangoAdmin

Programme being launched to remind staff of Guysuco’s Procurement Manual

Source

November 1, 2021

Dear Editor,

As a citizen, I have always believed in accountability by public officers and transparency in their action. Criticism with merit must be welcomed by any public official when it is genuine and is presented by someone that’s real. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco), I am always open to constructive criticism.

The evidence will reveal that there is no one by the name of Patrick Lewis who is in the employ of Guysuco at the LBI Head Office for the past 25 years and who purportedly authored a letter in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek.

The only reason why I am responding to the letter is because I hold Stabroek News to be a responsible newspaper that historically verified the authenticity of its letter writers.

I want to state three pertinent facts, not in response to that letter, but for public consumption:

As CEO of Guysuco, I worked hard to implement the spirit and letter of Section 24 of the Procurement Laws of Guyana. With the help of the newly installed Board, some 85% of the value of Guysuco’s capital procurement is now done at the National Procurement & Tender Administration (NPTA). Let me be clear – these projects are designed by Guysuco and all documents are supplied to the national authorities for them to conduct the procurement process. The Procurement Law of Guyana dictates where these tenders are evaluated and approved and it is not within the Corporation.

The remaining 15% is procured by way of open tender, subject to the full scrutiny by the Board by way of the Procurement Sub-Committees.

Guysuco many years ago hired a former Auditor General of Guyana, with a Doctoral Degree in Accounting Systems, to write its Procurement Manual. That Manual was approved many years ago by a former Board of the Corporation and is still in place today. A re-training programme is being launched for all procurement staff to remind themselves of the words, spirit and intentions of the Guysuco’s Procurement Manual.

All for the public’s information.

Sasenarine Singh

Chief Executive Officer

Guyana Sugar Corporation

Turn around CEO did not mention his behavior also claiming the letter writer is not an employee of GUYSUCO.

11/1/217:18 AM

SpugumJunior Member

he's not disputing the accusations only the name of the letter writer

guyana has a history of letter writers using fake names to avoid victimisation etc especially when criticising those in authority

11/1/217:32 AM

sachin_05Senior Member

@Spugum posted:
he's not disputing the accusations only the name of the letter writer
guyana has a history of letter writers using fake names to avoid victimisation etc especially when criticising those in authority

The reason this Patrick Lewis dude said he voted PPP but doesn’t exist as a guysuco employee, must be because he is one of them thousands of jumbies the coalition claimed voted for the PPP. Now you insinuating he [sase] is not disputing the accusations of a jumbie, Really? Yuh think yuh could arrange a meeting with this jumbie? Hahahahaha [maniacal laughter]

11/1/2112:02 PM

Former Member

someone told me sachin is sasenarine singh

11/1/2112:09 PM

SpugumJunior Member

@sachin_05 posted:
The reason this Patrick Lewis dude said he voted PPP but doesn’t exist as a guysuco employee, must be because he is one of them thousands of jumbies the coalition claimed voted for the PPP. Now you insinuating he [sase] is not disputing the accusations of a jumbie, Really? Yuh think yuh could arrange a meeting with this jumbie? Hahahahaha [maniacal laughter]

why do you feel the need to defend the PPP's record at the 2020 elections on every thread, insecurity?

banna, the PPP was INSTALLED. the county that did it seh suh. deal with that!

11/1/213:42 PM

sachin_05Senior Member

@Spugum posted:
why do you feel the need to defend the PPP's record at the 2020 elections on every thread, insecurity?
banna, the PPP was INSTALLED. the county that did it seh suh. deal with that!

Huh? Which county was that again?

11/1/218:28 PM

MitwahSenior Member

@sachin_05 posted:
Huh? Which county was that again?

Haiti.

11/1/219:24 PM

DjangoAdmin

Jagdeo sees need for strengthening of management at GUYSUCO

November 1 ,2021

Source

Just after the new government was sworn in last year, Saesnarine Singh was appointed to the post of CEO, promising to make the sugar industry sweet again.

Amid growing complaints against the Chief Executive Officer of GUYSUCO Saesnarine Singh, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo today stopped short of saying whether there will be another change in management, but he promised that there will be a strategic shift at the sugar company.

Just after the new government was sworn in last year, Saesnarine Singh was appointed to the post of CEO, promising to make the sugar industry sweet again.

But staff members under Singh continue to complain about what they see as his “bitter” management style.

On Sunday, a senior staffer at GUYSUCO published a letter in the newspapers, accusing the CEO of being arrogant and dictatorial.

Mr. Singh has also come under heavy criticisms for allegedly shouting at employees who disagree with his position on various issues.

A number of those employees with decades of service at the sugar corporation have since resigned.

Several employees were also sacked for not carrying out the instructions of the CEO.

Saesnarine Singh – GUYSUCO Chief Executive Officer

During a press conference today, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was asked if he has taken note of the complaints against Singh and whether the administration is satisfied with his performance.

In response, Mr. Jagdeo said “clearly, whether the CEO stays or not, we have to strengthen management and outcome and investments and we are looking now to bring great private involvement in the sector. We are looking also at some strategic shifts in some of the areas”.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Earlier this year Mr. Singh also came under fire from sugar workers for saying that the company cannot pay money it does not have, as the workers called for better salaries. His statement sparked protest across the sugar belt.

The Vice President now appears adamant that there needs to be stronger management at the sugar company.

“Now clearly we have to strengthen management at GUYSUCO that is without doing an assessment of the performance of the CEO or not. I have had less of interaction with the sector from a management perspective within the last several months,” Mr. Jagdeo said.

The PPP has been promising to turn around the fortunes of the ailing sugar industry which continues to use up billions of taxpayers’ money annually to survive.

11/1/2110:33 PM

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We have a CEO who is equally destructive

Programme being launched to remind staff of Guysuco’s Procurement Manual

Jagdeo sees need for strengthening of management at GUYSUCO

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