Govt responsible for predicament of Caroni (1975) Ltd

THE EDITOR: The present PNM Government is making a whole lot of noise about the high cost of manufacturing sugar by Caroni (1975) Ltd in Trinidad and Tobago, but do they have the moral authority to do so? Prior to 1975, when the PNM Government bought over the company from Tate and Lyle, sugar was and still is (in every sugar producing country) a seasonal crop. It was in 1975 under the PNM Government, that the workers were granted “Guaranteed Work,” after the workers engaged in a prolonged strike.

This was during the first oil boom, and as money was plentiful, the Government gave-in to the workers’ demands quite willingly. It was also under the PNM Government in 1976, that the same sugar workers were granted a 100 percent increase in salaries and wages. Though the latter concession was thought necessary at the time, to narrow the widening gap between the energy sector workers and sugar workers, who had to face the same cost of goods and services, and the rise in the cost of living, it is really these two measures which are mainly responsible for the predicament the sugar industry has found itself in today.

Indeed, there are other factors, which also influence this situation. But to put it simply, the effects of those two measures are the real reasons why the cost of production in TT is so high and is causing our sugar to be uneconomical to produce. We, the sugar workers would like to remind the whole country that we are not against restructuring of the company. We have been looking forward to it for a long time, but it must be done with proper planning and a human touch. In the present form in which it is being undertaken, there will be a great deal of suffering in store for workers and their families, and the resulting social consequences for the whole country. Together with the above, the rapid change of direction which resulted from the five years Governments since 1986, and the changes of Boards and Directors of the Company, which went along with the Government changes, also resulted in wastage of the highest order, but that is another issue to be discussed later.

R RAMSINGH
Employee
Caroni (1975) Ltd