The Caroni issue
Salman Rushdie described the connectivity between the land and the Indian best when he wrote "Land, home, belonging: to Indians these words have always felt more than ordinarily potent.
India is a continent of deeply rooted peoples. Indians don't just own the ground beneath their feet; it owns them, too." ("The Age In Idi Amin's footsteps: Fiji's racist dilemma", June 10 2000). It is therefore no wonder that the recent Caroni crisis will have land at its heart along with the employment of the employees. The heart of Caroni (1975) Ltd has not stopped beating yet the economic vultures have already begun to circle the carcass of the company, its assets and its employees. The H Credit Union in true scavenger style, made the first bid on the ailing body of the Caroni (1975) Ltd. At a recent meeting (20/2/03 widely reported by the media) on the state of Caroni with various trade unions the President of the Credit Union, Harry Harrinarine, openly declared an intention to acquire the land resources of Caroni.
Feigning concern about the company, Harrinarine spoke on the company's prized asset — its lands — insisting that the Government "must not be allowed" to turn it over to "private conglomerates". Harrinarine in arrogant 'boldfacedness' went further to assert that "we ourselves will resist attempts by the Government to place Caroni (assets) in the hands of private conglomerates" and went on to state that thousands of Caroni workers were credit union members and therefore he felt the credit union was "entitled" to the first call on any plan the Government had for the company. Harrinarine declared, "We must make a bold demand to be considered for the sale of any Caroni assets."
These are serious statements made by the president of the credit union that require an appropriate response. It is very obvious that the president of the credit union continues to feel that indentureship still exists in Trinidad and Tobago and as a result his actions are akin to that of the arrogance of a sugar cane farmer. The Maha Sabha questions Mr Keith Maharaj, the Supervisor of Credit Unions in the Ministry of Finance and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Senator Conrad Enill on this issue.
Can the President of any credit union make such an assertion without getting the approval from shareholders at an annual general meeting or does this credit union operate with its own rules? It also has to be asked is there anything that separates the conglomerate status of the credit union from that of the established and other conglomerates in the nation? Will the interest of Caroni or indeed that of its employees be served by the credit union rather than other business venture? Is the fact that there is some degree of overlap between the members of the credit union and the employees of Caroni enough of a reason for the president to make a "bold demand" for the assets of Caroni?
In the last general election the PNM got over 20,000 votes in the Sugar Belt, while over 100,000 votes and indeed members of the Opposition UNC come from the sugar heartland. The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha has a relationship spanning over 157 years with the sugar industry and many of the workers of Caroni are Hindus, attend mandirs owned by the SDMS, and their children perhaps also attend schools operated by the SDMS.
The involvement of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) in the direction on the evolution of the sugar industry and in particular Caroni (1975) Ltd is directly linked to the creation of the SDMS and its 157 year old Hindu bond to the industry. In fact so strong is this bond that when the sugar industry was in crisis in February 1989 at the SDMS headquarters the organisation held an all day consultation entitled "The Future of Caroni".
Coming out of the conference was a publication that examined the national land distribution programmes and outlined the SDMS position for the use of Caroni lands. Therefore the present crisis at Caroni has engaged the fullest attention of the SDMS. The territory under the direct influence of Caroni has several dozen temples, many schools, and the residence of many thousands of Hindus. Caroni (1975) Ltd also directly and indirectly employs thousands of Hindus, so the SDMS as the legitimate Hindu voice, is deeply concerned with the plans to re-structure the company by the government.
Similarly the Presbyterian, Catholic, and Muslim, communities also respectively have a significant historical and current presence in the area. Yet neither the Maha Sabha, the UNC, the PNM, nor any of these other bodies have made a similar 'bold demand' for the lands of Caroni. Instead all responsible bodies have focused on the plight of the worker rather than enriching themselves at the expense of the Caroni worker.
While the leaders of the sugar union movement have correctly indicated concern about the Government's plan to use some of the lands of Caroni for 'housing' and 'light industries' but there however appears to be no concern whatsoever when a credit union has declared that its demands are the prized assets of the company merely because some employees are also credit union members. Have the sugar bosses accepted the credit union's bid or do they accept the credit union position?
Recently the propaganda arm of the credit union hosted the Minister of Agriculture on its morning radio talk-show programme to discuss the burning Caroni issue. What was instructive to many listeners was that the programme for perhaps the first time did not allow listeners to call-in and directly question the Minister as is the norm. Why was the Minister essentially protected? Speculation is rife that there is some sort of alliance and that Caroni lands is the price paid. The credit union that is attempting to feed on the carcass of Caroni (1975) Ltd must not be allowed to sink its claws into its assets.
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"The Caroni issue"