Latest update May 10th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 26, 2015 Letters
Dear Editor,
This society must read the aggression the PPP brings to this campaign as it seeks re-election for what it is. In everything Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar governments have done they have demonstrated to us that they see Guyana as their plantation and the citizens their subjects. The controversies that continue to surround shady dealings and disrespect by ministers and public officials are condoned, followed by efforts to sweep them under the carpet regardless of public outcries, which are indicative of these men lack of respect for the people. The promises that are today made by them can never be seriously considered for they have had years to do what is right but refused to accept that the path they have travelled is wrong.
A case in point is the sugar industry. Every ill Cheddi Jagan spoke of about the plantoclass and the exploitation of the people, we are witnessing today under the Jagdeo/Ramotar leadership. This industry continues to see billions of dollars being pumped into it with no sound economic plan to arrest its decline, save jobs and ensure an industry that can compete internationally. The act of Jagdeo and Ramotar to place the blame on the European Union for the crisis in sugar is wicked and misleading, since it is CARIFORUM which includes Guyana that signed the Trade Agreement that agreed to cut sugar prices in return for modernising the industry and diversifying the economy.
What these men have done is disregard this agreement and engaged in acts inimical to the industry, economy and workers’ wellbeing, including denying private cane farmers what is justly theirs. In fact, these two men have taken the money and spent it as they like. Guyanese must not be fooled by their rhetoric. Sugar is being used as a political football to the point where the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who enjoys a Cadillac lifestyle on the backs of workers/taxpayers, is today on the PPP List of Candidates for the 11th May elections.
It is every citizen’s duty to be concerned about and speak out on what is taking place in sugar because in addition to drawing down from the Consolidated Fund, the legacy of this industry runs deep in the veins of every Guyanese whose forebears were enslaved and indentured. The attempt by Jagdeo and Ramotar to present a picture that sugar is of special interest to them given that the industry is dominated by Indians who are traditionally PPP supporters is masking their contempt for the workers and the importance of the industry to the nation’s economy.
Sugar directly affects the communities from Parika to Crabwook Creek. It has direct bearing on our Treasury which continues to pump money into it, and through indirect employment/work as value-added. For years these men have ignored the decline in the industry because they see sugar workers as an assured voting bloc regardless of what they do to them or how they treat men, and have in fact made this group a political weapon to perpetuate bigotry in their obsession to live on the backs of citizens
For years GuySuCo’s books have not been audited and the management with the support of the government refuses to place their accounts before Parliament so the nation can know how our moneys are being spent. Billions of dollars are owed to NIS, which represent workers’ contributions that GuySuCo has not paid over, putting at risk workers’ and the Scheme’s wellbeing. President Ramotar’s recent promise to Berbicans that should a PPP government be returned he will invest $20B showcases personal greed, not an interest in the industry. Citizens and workers of this country must be aware.
When Jagdeo was talking about investing over US$200M to build the Skeldon Factory in what was touted as Sugar Modernisation, he was cautioned against it by voices of reason. Instead he ignored those voices, went ahead, singularly selected an ill-equipped contractor, threw all our money down the drain, as Skeldon remains a white elephant underperforming and cost this nation the largest single investment. Skeldon has now become an albatross around the necks of taxpayers and sugar workers and bears testimony of these men squander-mania.
This nation must lay the blame squarely at the feet of Jagdeo and Ramotar for the sick industry. Their admittance that sugar workers are leaving the job and their families to go perform hazardous jobs in the gold mining sector is indicative that they had no plan for the industry, save and except putting their hands on the people’s money. These men had years to correct the ills (Ramotar served on GuySuCo board) and have already spent more than $20B. For them this is not about the survival of the industry, wellbeing of this nation and workers; it about them and their cohorts.
For instance the monthly salary GuySuCo CEO is equivalent to wages of hundreds of workers on an estate. He is guarantee perks of travel allowance, medical expenses, direct power line to his residence and it matters not if the community is plunged into darkest he gets light while the sugar workers and their families stay in the dark or light candles or flambeau. That CEO drives in a top of the line vehicle and is allowed to be chauffeured while sugar workers are transported in crowded trucks under worse conditions than cows that are transported to the slaughter house. Industrial accidents in this industry continue to be alarming and are the nation’s highest in any workforce.
While the CEO is entitled to jump on plane when he falls ill, sugar workers have to contend with the dispensary where service continues to deteriorate. This is a return to the lifestyle of the plantocracy that Jagan railed against but Jagdeo and Ramotar have the temerity to ask workers and Guyanese for another chance. Another chance for what? To now make Guyanese workers indentured servants and slaves? Must these men be given another chance to continue plundering the nation’s resources to live a life of luxury as the masses grow poorer and are deprived?
The call by Jagdeo and Ramotar to support them is not about we, the people. It is about using the people to entrench themselves, which in the process sees the people’s rights transgressed, laws violated, disregard for accountability and the nation’s resources plundered. Jagdeo and Ramotar have made the elections about them. The citizens in return must make the elections about us. Your vote is your power and a power to use to safeguard and protect your wellbeing. Our vote must be used as a referendum on the Jagdeo/Ramotar leadership.
Lincoln Lewis
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