The sun sets on Caroni

SUNRISE over  the sugar belt of Central Trinidad today will see the closure of Caroni (1975) Limited.  However uncertainty remains over what the closure of the 28-year-old company — which has brought no shortage of headaches to successive PNM, NAR and UNC governments and taxpayers — means for the        nation’s social, economic and political future. After months of struggle on political platforms and in the Industrial Court, Caroni’s 9,000 daily-paid employees will be collecting their VSEP packages at various locations which the company has deliberately kept secret, reportedly to protect workers from being targetted by criminal elements. Former Food Production Minister Trevor Sudama told Newsday, today marks the beginning of “the liquidation of the sugar industry” in Trinidad and Tobago. According to Sudama, the PNM Government was focussing too much on relieving Caroni’s burden on the Treasury and did not spend enough time putting proper programmes in place “to secure employment” for any of the separated Caroni workers.

“Government is taking the easy way out,” he stated grimly. Sudama added that all of Government’s announcements about lands for agricultural and non-agricultural activities were nothing but “ole talk.” He predicted that within the two years, there will be “a great deal of distress” in sugar-producing areas in Central and South Trinidad as the implications of the VSEP begin to bite. Sudama also wondered if Government was really putting systems in place for cane farmers to produce all the cane for the new Sugar Manufacturing Company of TT and felt it was unnecessary to have a state-controlled sugar company where only 1,000 people would be employed. However the former minister said Government alone was not to blame for Caroni’s demise and the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union (ATSGWTU) had to accept its share of the blame. “The union capitulated,” Sudama lamented. He claimed whatever VSEP monies are paid to Caroni workers would be spent within a short space of time. ATSGWTU President-General Rudranath Indarsingh disagreed with Sudama, saying the union did all it could to protect the workers’ interests given Government’s “intransigence” towards Caroni.

“Once you fulfill your duty, you can sleep very comfortably,” he said. Indarsingh maintained that the VSEP was rammed down the throats of Caroni workers, with the only alternative being retrenchment. “Today is a very sad day for employees of Caroni,” Indarsingh lamented. The ATSGWTU leader added that while the union is supportive of Caroni’s restructuring, it maintains that it be done on a phased basis. Indarsingh said Caroni’s closure would impact heavily on workers in the age bracket of 18 to 50 and this could give rise to higher levels of crime in sugar-producing areas as the have-nots “naturally gravitate to take things from those that have.” Like Sudama, Indarsingh also wondered whether Government would keep its promises to the cane farmers. The Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers Association (TICFA) was not worried about that or Caroni’s restructuring. TICFA PRO Lallan Rajaram said the farmers were aware that Caroni’s problems could not be solved overnight. He said farmers needed a three-year transition period, the necessary amenities and a cane price of $200 per tonne in order to perform their intended role in the new company and these proposals have been submitted to the Government.