Bitter clash over sugar

Debate in the House of Representatives turned bitter over the subject of Caroni (1975) Limited in the late hours of Friday night as Government and Opposition traded barbs and accusations.

Even Prime Minister Patrick Manning was unable to set the chamber into a dignified mood as his contribution was repeatedly interrupted by Opposition jibes of “Schoolmaster Manning!” and “Sit down, you take too long to say anything!”. Following the Opposition’s diversion from the Rent Restriction Act to debate Caroni, Manning claimed the sugar industry had for decades had its future in question, saying: “Everybody acknowledged that something had to be done”.

In justification, he said the country was now set for great economic expansion and that new opportunities were becoming available. “Some of the sugar workers of today will become cane farmers of tomorrow”. Responding to taunts by Opposition MP for Couva South Kelvin Ramnath for him to bring a documented plan for Caroni to Parliament for debate, Manning said: “There are provisions in Parliament for a private members motions, yet they walked out on private member day”. The bitter clashes continued when Opposition MP for St Augustine Winston Dookeran arose. He slammed: “The Government is announcing things and then say they will consult after...A wide cross section of the population is questioning the credibility of  the Government’s policy formulation”. Calling for the Government to lay out its plan for Caroni and its national economic projections, Dookeran said that within the space of one week the Government had offered two different plans for VSEPP. “Could you guarantee you would be able to re-absorb Caroni workers into agriculture?...Short term gains can have long term social costs... Even if workers agree to go because you are holding a big stick over their heads, you are leaving them with a bitter taste for a long time after. ..You can build a big Parliament (new building) but you will not have left a tradition of true democracy”.

Getting personal, the normally-mild Dookeran accused the PNM Government of having made sure he no longer stayed as Governor of the Central Bank. Hitting back Minister of Trade and Industry Ken Valley challenged Dookeran’s claim of ignorance over the Government’s plans for Caroni saying that as a Governor of the Central bank, he should have been better informed. Valley announced that to restructure Caroni (1975) Limited, the Government  would form a new company.  Valley said: “We will have a new company and accept who we want to. It’s a phased reduction...You say we will retrench 10,000 workers, but 75 percent of them will be back”. Rising, Opposition MP for Couva South Kelvin Ramnath said: “We are hearing for the first time that Caroni is to be closed down and a new company formed. Before it was a denial Caroni will be closed down. We are hearing every employee of Caroni is to be retrenched, something the Minister of Agriculture has been denying all along. Why haven’t you been openly stating your plan and hold a debate on the matter”. Ramnath warned the Government must try to understand the impact that the closure of Caroni would have on race relations in the country.

Alluding to racial discrimination, Ramnath said: “I can’t believe that two weeks after I am retrenched from Caroni that I will have the opportunity to be re-employed with the new company”.  Ramnath said he was not afraid of the Prime Minister bringing the military to Caroni to frighten people.