Guyana sugar battle
By

Renu Raghubir

 and

Chamanlall Naipaul

GUYANA yesterday clinched vital support in its battle to stave off the crippling impact of proposed European price cuts on its lynchpin sugar industry on which thousands of families depend.

The firm backing for this country’s cause came from a team from the African, Caribbean and Pacific/European Union (ACP/EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly which flew here Friday for a firsthand look at the sugar industry and for talks with government and other stakeholders.

Co-President of the assembly, Ms. Glenys Kinnock, told reporters in Georgetown that the team has a broader understanding of what sugar means to Guyana and why such a substantial proportion of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (57 per cent) depends on the industry.

The delegation yesterday visited Albion sugar estate in Berbice where a $164M modernization project is under way to diversify the industry and came away with a holistic picture of the situation.

“We have had a first hand look at the impact the proposed reform will have on people’s livelihood and the communities, and I believe that they are feeling a sense of betrayal and would like more reassurance that there is indeed, a real understanding of what sugar means to thousands of livelihoods”, Ms. Kinnock said.

In Georgetown yesterday afternoon, she told International Trade and Cooperation Minister Clement Rohee, “We want to support your efforts in this country in doing whatever you can to withstand the pressure that you’re under and I have every faith in you doing that”.

Kinnock commended Guyana for doing “very well” in diversifying and modernizing the industry, pointing to the state-of-the-art factory to be built at Skeldon, Berbice, which she said will be a leading example of a developing country’s work in the sugar sector.

According to her, the best ladder out of poverty is trade and if that ladder is kicked from under Guyana, the country will become poorer.

Additionally, she stressed, sugar paves the way for sustainability that does not come from other products such as pineapples and avocadoes.

Kinnock, a British Labour Party Member of Parliament who also sits in the European Union Parliament, said it is excellent that Guyana fully understands that it must diversify outside the sugar industry.

She said the team also has a clear picture of how much is being invested in the industry and promised that she and Mr. Michael Gahler, another member of the delegation who is from the European Parliament, will meet European Commissioner, Mr. Peter Mandelson next week to discuss their visit here and to brief him on how people here feel.

Mandelson flew here earlier this year to meet government and industry officials on the proposed reform of the EU sugar regime and promised support to cushion the impact of the change on Guyana and other ACP countries.

Industry officials say the proposed 39% cut in the price the EU pays for sugar from Guyana and other ACP producers would have a devastating impact on the economy of those countries.

SEVERE BLOW
Sugar accounts for the livelihood of some 125,000 in Guyana and President Bharrat Jagdeo last week said the proposed sugar price cuts announced by the European Commission (EC), if implemented, will not only deal a severe blow to the economies of ACP sugar producers, but will also raise the important question of whether Europe can be trusted.

Kinnock yesterday told Rohee, who is also the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ministerial spokesperson on sugar, “I share your worry that there isn’t sufficient understanding and sensitivity of this dependency on sugar. And not just that but also your willingness to fight for what is yours and what you do well.”

“And I think what people in Guyana understand is that sugar is about generating the economy, making sure you can deal with poverty, meet the Millennium Development Goals (set by the United Nations to cut poverty by 2015), build your communities and small businesses”, she added.

Kinnock said there is not enough sensitivity to the needs of countries like Guyana and the EU has a duty not to walk away from the social and economic difficulties which they would face if the proposed reforms are implemented.

Acknowledging that a 39 per cent cut in the EU sugar price is enormous and the implementation time is short, she noted that it is necessary to ensure that “things are not done which will destabilise developing economies.”

The team includes ACP Secretariat Representative, Guyanese Mr. Neville Bissember; members of the assembly, Mrs. Sharon Hay Webster (Co-President), Mr. Gahler, Mr. Youssouh Moussa Dawelh and Mr. Joeli Nabyku. They are here on a sugar fact-finding mission to assess the impact the EU proposed reform of the longstanding sugar regime would have on the economy.

Rohee called Kinnock a “principal ally” and said the presence of the team in Guyana was very timely.

He said Guyana made a wise decision to set up a subcommittee of the Cabinet to closely monitor the issue.

Members of the Task Force set up by Cabinet to finalise Guyana’s preparation for an action plan were also at the meeting.

FRIEND OF THE CARIBBEAN
At Albion, Kinnock told the Chronicle that she has a better grasp of the crucial importance of the sugar industry to the socio-economic fabric of the Guyanese society and this will make her a stronger advocate against the proposed sugar cuts.

“I am totally supportive of the ACP’s position on the issue and I don’t mind being referred to as being a friend of the Caribbean,” she said.

She noted too that the proposed price cuts would also raise political tensions and threaten the existence of democracy here which has been under pressure and this would obviously affect the developmental process.

She praised Guyana for the steps it has taken to meet the challenges of trade liberalisation which would see the erosion of preferential commodity prices.

Asked about the likelihood of adjustments to the proposed reformed sugar regime, Kinnock said these are good and already the EU Agriculture Committee is proposing a 25% cut instead of 39%.

She feels that political pressure and a greater awareness on the part of Europeans of the implications of the price cuts to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands in the ACP countries, as well as the social dislocations it would create, will help influence a change which would see less drastic price cuts and a longer period of implementation to give the affected countries a chance to adjust.

She felt that visits such as this by her delegation would help build the greater understanding and awareness that is needed.

She added that the ACP group is a powerful voice in the struggle against the proposed sugar regime.

AMMUNITION FOR BATTLE
Referring to her discourses with sugar workers at Albion/Port Mourant Estate, Kinnock assured them that their “words will be used as ammunition” in the battle against the proposed cuts on her return to Europe

Webster, from Jamaica, told the Chronicle that the visit here has helped to widen the perspective in which the struggle against the proposed price cuts is being waged because even though the methods of harvesting and production are different in Guyana, the issues are the same as those of other ACP sugar producers.

She also assured sugar workers that on return to Europe the battle against the “draconian” price cuts will be intensified on all fronts.

Acting Chief Executive Officer and Financial Director of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), Paul Bhim told the Chronicle that visits such as the one yesterday help to expose the realities of what the price cuts would result in if these are implemented in their present form.

“The more they come, the better,” he opined, adding that he is impressed with Kinnock’s stance on the issue and is optimistic that she would use her influential position to advance Guyana’s and the ACP’s case which is important in the struggle against the proposed reformed sugar regime.

Chairman of the GUYSUCO Board of Directors, Ronald Ali said the visit was “meaningful” and a learning experience with respect to historical facts as Guyana’s association with sugar began more than 300 years ago.

He also reiterated the ACP’s position on the price cuts pointing out that if implemented these will be an obstacle in GUYSUCO’s push towards greater modernisation and movement into value-added production which needs large scale investments.

The visiting team is expected to pay a courtesy call on President Jagdeo at State House today.