Georgetown- Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, has finally acknowledged that the Skeldon Sugar Factory investment is a failure. This investment amounted to about US$200 million in an economy with an annual GDP of about US$ 1.2 billion. As a percent of GDP this investment amounts to about 17% of GDP. This makes it the largest single investment failure since Guyana's independence in 1966. Even the PNC did not accomplish a failure this gigantic. The opening statement of a release to the press by the Alliance for Change.
The party says that the PPP Government is hustling to exonerate itself from blame, fixing same on a hapless GuySuCo Board and Management. Guyanese must not be fooled by this false claim. The collapse of the Skeldon Sugar Factory is squarely at the hands of President Jagdeo, Minister Persaud, and Donald Ramotar along with the cronies they appointed on the Board the AFC stated.
The first cause of failure was the mis-advised grant of the contract for construction to the Chinese firm, CNIC, which had no experience in sugar factory building. The other failings included the acceptance of the factory as complete before the Chinese firm had proven to GuySuCo that it was fully complete and operational; the non-training of locals to operate the factory after the Chinese would have left; the stifling political interference which resulted in experienced, qualified and senior staff including agro-engineers and agronomists being forced out and being replaced by friends and supporters of the Government; the ill-preparedness in not expanding cane cultivation to feed the factory; and, the disrespect for sugar workers which has resulted in massive migration away from work in the Estate, AFC added.
To solve this problem the PPP Government, fully backed by its Presidential Candidate, Donald Ramotar, a Director on the Board for some 19 years, plans to enter another management contract with either an Indian or Chinese company. Minister Persaud is quoted as saying that the Government was currently evaluating two proposals to manage the said factory.
The AFC says it sees this development as a grand opportunity for massive corruption. There is no record that any management contract was ever put to a public tender. Moreover, the AFC is aware that taxpayers' dollars of nearly US$2.5 m would have to be paid to the contract manager per annum! the release added.
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