Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 27, 2016 News
The privatization recommendation of the Parvatan Commission must be rejected
By Sase Singh
INTRODUCTION
Part 1 of this Sugar Series was an important column since from the inception, there were no “smoke and mirror”
impressions; the reader was absolutely clear where I stand on the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into GuySuCo. The recommendation of privatization by the Parvatan Commission must be rejected emphatically as a result of an incomplete financial review.
But let us rewind to the Terms of Reference (ToR) for this Commission. Reading the ToR, one felt assured that this Parvatan Commission was going to develop a “plan to bring the industry back to profitability and assure its economic survival” in the medium term. Actually, item 3 of the ToR stated clearly that it plans to “examine avenues/opportunities to make the industry viable in the near future. In the event it is not realizable, then all other options, including diversification and divestment, will be considered.”
But after spending over $70 million and investing more than 3½ months of collective executive time on this Report, we are no better off.
Have all the opportunities been examined to take GuySuCo out of distress? Certainly not! After reading that Report twice, since I could not believe my eyes the first time around, I am convinced that this Parvatan Commission did a grave injustice to the people in the sugar industry.
They clearly did not deliver on the expectations of the ToR. What they failed to do was “prepare a Road Map for the way ahead for 2016-2030, structured in five-year intervals with stated goals and modalities of implementation” as was asked for by the ToR.
When one reads this CoI Report, one can quickly see it was not constructed to help stabilize the business at least for the period 2016-2030, while at the same time significantly reducing the size of the financial call on the Treasury.
There was no clear plan in this CoI Report on how the financial footing of the company will be strengthened and how we are going to use good corporate governance with less political interference to deliver greater value for money to the stakeholders in the industry. The Parvatan Commission did not provide advisory support, they were on a mission to gather evidence in support of a pre-meditated position – privatization.
IT’S THE CASH FLOW STUPID!
There was no short-term cash flow forecasting or any recommendations on how to manage the available working capital to free-up cash for the critical capital works needed in the fields and factories. Before we even move forward, there is very little clarity around the cash inflows and outflows, and this must be established.
There are just too many inconsistencies in this Report around cash outflows from GuySuCo – estate by estate. If these basic elements in the cash flow are not clearly understood, we can recommend the moon; it matters not.
That PPP-sponsored Raj Singh Business Plan was a “hocus-pocus” Road Map, with pie in the sky numbers and shifty key performance indicators (KPI), of which very few were achievable. The Commission quite rightly rejected the Raj Singh/PPP Business Plan; it was a document conceived in deception to cover criminality.
But the Parvatan Commission has replaced the PPP financial numbers with an even less germane set of financial information. So GuySuCo right now is living day-to-day; paycheck-to-paycheck, like a corporate bum with no plan, no vision, no direction. At a minimum, this CoI Report should have been the basis to inform the creation of a new Business Plan for GuySuCo. In its current form it cannot.
After wasting some $70 million on this CoI Report, we should banish the financial section of this document since it is not fit for professional consumption. If the financial assumptions are incorrect, then we are clearly basing our financial recommendations on an incomplete process.
THE REALITY – ACUTE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
GuySuCo is currently facing acute financial difficulties, caused mainly by the repairs to the Skeldon Factory, poor prices and an extremely high cost of production. Two of them are difficult to change situations in the short-term and therefore, we have limited control. Sugar prices and the repairs to the Skeldon Factory are a given, which has to be absorbed into all future plans for GuySuCo.
The reality is that a fair chunk of the taxpayers’ G$12 billion is going towards fixing the Skeldon Factory. Therefore let us bury that myth that it is going into the pockets of the sugar workers; it is not. Let us also clarify that this cash-guzzler called Skeldon Factory was imposed on this nation by the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal.
But when you analyze the numbers presented in Appendix 3 of the CoI Report – which appears to be a printout from the GuySuCo Finance Department – you quickly conclude that both Albion and Blairmont actually can compete internationally.
This situation will improve even further if the politicians take their hands off the industry and allow the industry to return to those time-honoured set of best practices such as flood fallowing and progressively mapping the sugarcane fields to identify deficient canes and taking appropriate agronomical actions.
But all of this will go to waste if we cannot enhance the management of the harvesting and post-harvesting system in a sort of JUST-IN-TIME (JIT) framework to minimize the sucrose losses. Further, we must move away incrementally from human harvesting of sugar cane to more mechanized harvesting techniques. That process cost lots of money, but it will provide value to the nation worth its weight in gold.
CONCLUSION
If all of these basics are being implemented and continue to be implemented between 2016 and 2019, then a merged Albion/Rose Hall estate and a separate Blairmont estate can survive without any massive injection of funds from the Treasury. The tough question remains – what will we do with the Demerara Estates and Skeldon?
We shall continue next week. Please feel free to share your views with me at [email protected].
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
Mar 28, 2024
Minister Ramson challenge athletes to better last year’s performance By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – Guyana’s 23-member contingent for the CARIFTA Games in Grenada is set to depart the...B.V. Police Station Kaieteur News – The Beterverwagting Police Station, East Coast Demerara (ECD) will be reconstructed... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, water scarcity and... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]