Indarsingh: Sugar crop in disarray

WITH the 2004 sugar cane crop set to start today, All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union (ATSGWTU) President-General, Rudranath Indarsingh, has called for “accountability and transparency” in the awarding of contracts at the Sugar Manufacturing Company Limited (SMCL). The union leader also called on Agriculture Minister Jarette Narine to state what savings would go to the National Treasury from this year’s crop. In a media release, Indarsingh observed that this year’s crop was “in a state of disarray” and confusion due to the “lack of leadership, focus and direction” at the SMCL. He called on the Minister to state “how much will the dependency of the sugar industry on the Treasury of Trinidad and Tobago be reduced as a result of the Government’s restructuring policy which was pursued in 2003 on the eve of the 2004 sugar crop.”

Indarsingh repeated his call for the “terms and conditions” under which agriculture consultants Virgo Consultants Limited (VCL) had been hired to be made public. He also wanted to know whether the contract had been awarded through “open tender.” Interviewed later, the union boss cited the “millions of dollars” spent on aerial spraying by a private contractor during November and December and said the action “reeks of corruption and mismanagement.”

“There is also a state of confusion with respect to the future of the cane farming industry and more so the state of readiness of scales where the canes are to be sold and who will absorb the cost of transportation of canes to the Usine Ste Madeleine Factory,” he said. “This vindicates the union’s position that the dismantling of Caroni (1975) Limited was simply to create mass unemployment in Central and South Trinidad and transfer the State’s resources into programmes such as CEPEP and HYPE for the sole benefit of the supporters of the People’s National Movement.” Indarsingh said he would not be attending today’s ceremonial opening of the 2004 sugar crop at Usine Ste Madeleine as he had not been invited by either the Ministry of Agriculture or the new SMCL management.