Caroni closure a plot to destroy Opposition

PRESIDENT GENERAL of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers’ Trade Union (ATSGWTU) Rudra-nath Indarsingh is of the view that Government’s approach to the restructuring of the sugar industry is “a calculated attempt at destroying the base of the Opposition in the country.” Speaking during a seminar at the Rienzi Complex, Couva, Indarsingh said that Government felt the industry was a drain on the Treasury and decided to shut it down. “But how come they could allocate $800 million to CEPEP, which is unproductive and which does not bring in one dollar of foreign exchange in the country?” he asked. “Doesn’t it show plainly that it is  discriminatory in every sense of the word?” Indarsingh said. He added: “With one stroke of the pen they have destroyed the culture of a people, they have put 9,000 people on the breadline, and if there are five children in one family then that is 45,000 people directly affected.

“And what about the parlours and bakeries and soft drink industry and transport contractors that are indirectly affected. It could very well add up to a total past 100,000.” Indarsingh said Government has affected the course of history with their mishandling of the sugar industry and the culture of almost one tenth of the population. “They will never recover for this blunder,” he declared. Indarsingh claimed ATSGWTU was never against restructuring of the sugar industry but felt it should have been done gradually over a period of time. “To have done it the way they did it was nothing short of a callous deed,” he said. Indarsingh said he was well aware that the price of sugar to be paid by the European Union over the next three years would have dropped by 37 percent. He felt that Government could have offered the VSEP package to the older employees of Caroni (1975) Limited and develop a programme to diversify Caroni in different sectors, inviting private sector participation.

“Now to talk of retooling and retraining employees to take up new jobs is a big joke and no wonder that only about 2,000 former employees out of 9,000 have taken up the offer.  The big question now, also, is to see how the lands are going to  be distributed for housing and agriculture.” Indarsingh questioned the 2004 sugar production figures of 43,000 tonnes from the Usine Ste Madeleine factory. He said Junior Finance Minister Christine Sahadeo, whose responsibility was to oversee the restructuring programme had failed and “was depending on paid colour newspaper advetisements to impress the sugar workers of the country, but to no avail.” Indarsingh challenged the Government “to declare its national policy on the sugar industry instead of hoodwinking the population.” “It was nothing but a hatchet job, a national assassination of the sugar industry,” he claimed.