The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has responded to Shadow Minister of Agriculture Vinceroy Jordan, about its operations at Rose Hall Estate. The corporation in a statement, issued Friday September 20, 2024 insinuated workers were dismissed and explicitly stated there “was an overstatement of sugar production by 243 tonnes, and swift action was taken to address the breach of procedure.” Jordan, however, rubbished the claim.
GuySuCo falls under the ministerial portfolio of Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha.
In a Facebook post, the shadow minister said “GuySuco of all entities should know that this response is merely a top-of-the-surface rush to the defense of the Minister of Agriculture and the Agency taking into consideration the wide range of allegations of corruption and other forms of misappropriation, mismanagement, and incompetence which have been leveled against these agencies under the watch of the [People’s Progressive Party/Civic] PPP/C administration.”
Sugar has contracted by over 60%
Going further, he pointed out that the Government’s mid-year report on the economy states “sugar has contracted by over 60%,” and “this certainly justifies these allegations of incompetence and corruption” in GuySuCo.
In a surgical dissection of the corporation’s claim that the tonnage recorded was an error and was captured during the audit process, Jordan said “one must query if government understands that the first line of recording, tabulating, and even preliminary declarations are made by the Factory Hand, which is a level of staff responsible for accounting and recording production per shift which is made known on a whiteboard visible to other staff, that information proceeds to the Lab Technician then to the Senior Lab Technician (who verifies the figures of production) for onward transmission to the Production Manager and thereafter to the Factory Manager.”
This, the shadow minister said, begs the question: “How is it that this overstatement was not detected, at least at one of the various levels of verification?” This is clearly an attempt to cover up and hide the failure and the facts, he asserted.
Stating all Guyana must know PPP/C is corrupt, Jordan drew attention that the current Production Manager was fired by the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) administration for similar actions of lack of accountability in relation to the total production of sugar at the Uitvlugt Estate factory along with several other staff. He noted the PPP administration has rehired the manager, which confirms complicity in corruption.
GuySuCo loss approximately $20 Billion in two years
GuySuCo in under four years, Jordan reminded, has received more than $30 Billion in subvention from the Government, and in its first two completed audited years, under the PPP/C administration, has loss approximately $20 billion between 2021 and 2022 according to its annual audit. The government’s incompetence and corruption must be obvious to all Guyanese, he concluded.
GuySuCo, without providing any evidence to disprove Jordan stated his “insinuations are false and an insult to the intelligence of the staff at GuySuCo and by extension the Guyanese people. His suggestion that the current government is covering up any misconduct is laughable. If there were any truth to his claims, one might ask what his government [APNU+AFC] did when similar issues arose under its watch. The answer is nothing!”
Not 7000 workers laid off by APNU+AFC government
GuySuCo, in its statement has accused the APNU+AFC government of laying off 7000 workers. According to the corporation, “The APNU+AFC will always be remembered for shutting down operations at several sugar factories and putting some 7000 sugar workers on the breadline. His party’s incompetence and lack of experience made the industry collapse, leaving thousands of families, communities, and businesses in despair.” This claim was repeatedly debunked by former finance minister Winston Jordan, supported by evidence. According to an International Labour Organisation Study 5160 workers were laid off during the coalition administration, based on information provided by GuySuCo and Ministry of Education, the report can be read here:-https://www.ilo.org/caribbean/information-resources/publications/WCMS_800352/lang–en/index.htm
