Close Skeldon factory until defects fixed- GAWU demands

Nov 19, 2010 News

Sugar production has passed the 200,000 tonnes mark but it is highly unlikely that the targeted 260,000 tonnes for the year will be met.

– Chinese contractor asked to mend troubled boiler, other issues

By Leonard Gildarie

China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC), the entity which constructed the US$181M Skeldon sugar factory, has been asked to fix a number of critical issues, including a boiler that went down a few months ago.
A delegation from the company has been requested to visit Guyana and meet with government and the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) following growing, expressed concerns, including from President Bharrat Jagdeo, over low output and persistent problems
According to a GuySuCo official, representatives of the company, which was awarded Guyana’s biggest contract to date, are locked in tense meetings with the two parties.
Although the defects liability period would have run out earlier this year, GuySuCo has said that it had been working with the contractor to fix the nagging issues.
It is the hope that CNTIC will agree to fix a number of issues affecting the factory, including the boiler.
Yesterday also, even as news broke that sugar production passed the 200,000 tonnes mark for the year, sugar workers’ largest union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) called on GuySuCo to come clean on operations at the Skeldon facility.
It is the second time in over a week that GAWU has made a call to that effect.
Shut down until fixed
“The functioning of the factory which is beset by a number of defects has worsened over the past few days. Its performance has diminished significantly from crushing about 210 tonnes cane per hour to between 90 and 120 tonnes, owing to severe worn-out hammers and leaking boiler tubes.”
Yesterday, repair works on the lone boiler and the hammers commenced at about 06:00hrs and were expected to conclude the same day.
“In the meanwhile, 800 punts of canes are paralyzed in the dock and another 600 punts which are being transported to the factory would also be held up in the dock till the factory recommences operations.”
According to GAWU, the Corporation owes the sugar workers a full clear and clean statement on the Skeldon Factory and should consider shutting down the factory until its costly defects are redressed.
“This will save the Corporation millions of much needed dollars.”
It was only recently that GAWU blasted the state-of-the-art factory that was commissioned last year August.
In a statement headlined “GAWU laments state of operations at Skeldon,” the union had expressed its disgust over the state of operations at the factory, saying that it was more than 20,000 tonnes behind its budgeted production.
“Since the crop commenced on August 13, 2010, at Skeldon, the factory has experienced a number of mechanical breakdowns which as late as November 9, last, brought production to a halt.”
According to the union, it is clear that inferior components were used in the construction of the factory.
“No longer should the Corporation fail to replace the ill-suited and inferior components lest the factory’s interminable problems continue to bedevil the industry. The industry’s future is at stake. The industry currently has the capacity to produce 320,000 tonnes of sugar.”
Target unlikely
The latest figures indicate that production passed the 200,000 tonnes mark on Wednesday, but it is highly unlikely that even a suggested 250,000 tonnes might be met at yearend.
With only a little more than half of the cane harvesters currently turning out to work, and with harvesting closing off a few days before Christmas, the possibility is dwindling even faster, officials at GuySuCo disclosed yesterday.
As of yesterday morning, the production stood at 200,850 tonnes for the year. With GuySuCo’s adjusted target at 260,000 tonnes, the eight estates will have to buck up from producing a total average of over 8,000 tonnes to 11,000 tonnes weekly until the cut-off time during Christmas week.
GuySuCo has been asking sugar workers and their unions to work along to extend the current crop into the new year. However, the largest union, GAWU is not willing to go along with this proposal.
Recently, the Corporation had proposed a wage/salary increase between 2-5 percent, but tied this to production targets being met.
GAWU has totally rejected this and asked the negotiating team to go back and review the proposal. GuySuCo and GAWU were locked in follow-up meetings yesterday on the negotiations and there was no immediate word on the outcome.
A few weeks ago, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, led a team on a surprise visit to the Skeldon factory.
Last week, GuySuCo suffering from low production and a slash in price from its biggest buyer, approached government for a $2B (US$10M) bailout to help pay off creditors and suppliers.
The matter is still being looked at by government, officials confirmed.