It might be more in the national interest to abandon the Skeldon factory than for cane farmers to be forced to abandon their farms

Dear Editor,

In an article titled ‘Upper Corentyne Chamber says private cane farmers face ruin’ (SN, July 15, 2014) you report on the woes facing Skeldon cane farmers. In this article the said farmers allege that GuySuCo`s Skeldon factory utilizes an average of 20-25 tonnes of cane to make one tonne of sugar (TCTS) and that farmers were promised that the new factory would be using an average of 8-10 tonnes of cane to make a tonne of sugar.

The article further claims that cane suppliers are not paid for cane delivered to the factory gate but rather for sugar output declared by the factory. If true this would represent a bizarre arrangement. In response to questions posed by his colleague Dr Mahadeo, Region 6 MP, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ramsammy reported that whereas the TCTS for the first crop in 2012 “was about 19.6” it was 14.3 for the second crop. “There has been an improvement,” declared Minister Ramsammy (Source: Hansard, December 20, 2012, pages 7008-13). If what Dr Ramsammy said in relation to TCTS in December 2012 was true and if what the Skeldon cane farmers now allege is real then perhaps national interest would be better served not by the farmers being forced to abandon their farms as they say seems inevitable, but rather for this ‘factory’ to be abandoned instead.

When the National Assembly voted in the 2014 Budget for another $6,000M as a subvention to GuySuCo it was contingent on the submission of a plan that pointed to the industry being viable.

The Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called on the government to pursue specific initiatives as part of a restructuring in order to avert what it sees as the likely collapse of the industry.

The approach of the management of the sugar industry cannot be to become reliant on continuous subventions and subsidies at taxpayers’ expense. That simply is not sustainable. The PPP have failed to protect our fishermen in the Corentyne and elsewhere from piracy, resulting in their loss of livelihood. They have now failed our farmers. The people in Region 6 and other regions who in the past have given their support to the PPP must now be painfully embarrassed to witness their monumental incompetence.

From the plight of the fishermen, it is the plight of the farmers, miners, small loggers, schoolchildren, and the list goes on. When will it end, editor?

Yours faithfully, 
Ronald Bulkan 
APNU