GAWU vows to continue blunt assessment GuySuco’s management, performance

Jul 12, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is not accepting a statement by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) insinuating that its representative was directly involved in the controversial selection of “unsuitable” tractors purchased to till soil for sugar cane cultivation.

GAWU provides chart highlighting the rise and fall of sugar production from 2017 to 2022

In a full page centre spread on Sunday, the GuySuCo sought to address various issues facing the company, in particular, the purchase of GAME articulated tractors against John Deere fixed frame machines which is said to be better equipment.

Kaieteur News had reported on several documents highlighting a rift between the sugar company’s top brass over the purchase of what is understood to be “unsuitable” machines for the purpose of tillage. The full page statement titled ‘GuySuCo sets the record straight’ highlighted specifically that the Executive Management inclusive of the Chief Executive Office, are not part of the Board’s procurement subcommittee that made the call to purchase the tractors. The statement also said that GAWU’s representative played a key role in approving the purchase.

The GAWU has stated however that it is in support of its union representative and is confident that no decision would be supported by its member if it is not to the benefit of Guyanese and Guyana. The Union is adamant too that to use their representative in such a manner is to give the impression that they were also involved in the purchase. “In our examination of the statement, we noticed that the Union and its representative on GuySuCo’s Board received special attention in relation to procurement and decision-making…Our Union has full confidence that any decision made by its member will result in benefit to Guyanese and Guyana. In addition, the Union said it has always been forthright and honest in its assessment of the sugar company’s performance and leadership and will continue to do so without fear or favour.”

GAWU said that a substantial section of GuySuCo’s missive focused on procurement of the articulated tractors to undertake mechanical tillage operations and the touted impact those tractors would have on low production and productivity levels. The statement pointed out that the Union’s representative “played a leading role” in the procurement of tractors. GAWU said, “This statement, in our view, is a desperate attempt to create a perception that the Union’s representative was directly involved in purchase of articulated tractors, which is now subjected to intense debates.”

In trying to absolve itself from the current debates, the Corporation deliberately chooses to omit other pertinent facts associated with GuySuCo’s Procurement Committee recommendations, the union stated. They said that they are aware that deliberations of the Corporation’s Procurement Committee remain confidential. “Nonetheless, we understand that the Committee, comprising several board members, extensively and intensively debated purchase of articulated tractors. These debates eventuated on a course of action that advised on purchase of a small quantity of tractors against a larger quantity recommended by the Executive Management.”

The Committee’s intent, from what is gathered is to allow the type of tractors to be evaluated within Guyana’s context before making further decisions on purchase. It appears to us that the Procurement Committee was prudent in its decision-making, GAWU said.

The Union continued that the sugar company bemoaned an absence of tillage arising from the absence of a suitable fleet of tillage tractors, while company data supplied paint a different narrative. It was noted that at Albion, the tillage tractor fleet was available 72.8 percent of the 46 available opportunity days during the 2021 second crop, but the fleet was only utilized 37.1 percent of the time. “It informs that the fleet though available was not operable for substantial periods of time.” Despite this, the estate realised 78.4 percent tillage target causing the union to conclude that that if utilization was improved, “tillage target could have been realized and surpassed.” The same could be said for the other estates, GAWU charged. “It then begs the question as to whether the adequacy of tillage tractors is really the sole issue for poor production.”

The tractor purchase is a contentious issue because experienced GuySuCo managers have offered the John Deere tractors as cheaper and more efficient than GAME tractors when it comes to tillage. A report stating this was prepared by a named GuySuCo manager while another report by unnamed “professionals” was also conducted , but supporting the articulated machines.

Kaieteur News is told that apart from the GAME company being bankrupt and questions being asked as to whether the machines could be delivered, the company’s proposal to provide the tractors including its recommendation letters from sugar companies in different countries all spoke to the articulated tractors being used for haulage while GuySuCo needs a fleet of tillage machine to help increase production.