Middle-class’ lots to cost more

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2007-05-13/news6.html 

Ex-sugar workers want to know why the Government did not consider them as recipients for some 2,000 prime residential lots of Caroni (1975) Ltd developed by the Estate Management Business Development Company (EMBDC). 
 
These lots, in four areas—Orange Field, Balmain, Factory Road, Chaguanas, and Montserrat—are to be sold to middle-income earners of the public, through the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

Confirming this new development in the allocation process of Caroni lands yesterday, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Senator Christine Sahadeo, said the 2,000 lots in the four areas would be sold at a “considerably higher price” than the $20,000 to $30,000 a lot being offered to former Caroni workers.

Sahadeo, in a telephone interview, said the HDC would set the criteria and conditions for the sale of the land to the public and would make the relevant announcements shortly.
Assuring that all ex-Caroni employees who applied for housing lots would be given lands, Sahadeo said initially, slightly more than 7,000 lots were to be developed for the VSEP-availed sugar workers, of whom there were just over 5,000 applicants.

In an immediate comment on this new development, Rudy Indarsingh, head of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union (ATSGWTU) has questioned claims by Sahadeo that ex-sugar workers would be given priority treatment as regards allocation of Caroni lands.
And the ex-sugar workers themselves are questioning why they were not given lands in any of these four areas. Several ex-sugar workers visited the Guardian’s Chaguanas office last week to complain about crime at Roopsingh Road,Waterloo—one of the areas where lots are being allocated—and said they should have been given lots at Factory Road instead.

The ex-sugar workers who have been given lots at Roopsingh Road, Waterloo said a growing crime problem was making this site undesirable. They said that with the closure of Caroni (1975) Ltd, squatters from various parts of T&T moved into the area and that crime has become a problem and that a Crimestoppers neighbourhood watch sign was even stolen from the area earlier this year.

The ex-sugar workers were fearful that the criminal element would steal building materials, which they noted was not exactly cheap or easy to come by. And they were also concerned about illegal drugs and associated behaviours which they said were not conducive to a healthy neighbourhood.

Yesterday, Sahadeo insisted that there was transparency in the process of allocating lands to the ex-sugar workers and noted that if a particular site was oversubscribed, the recipients of lots could choose other lots at a different site or participate in a lot-swapping programme organised by Caroni.

Indarsingh questioned why lots at the four sites were not made available to ex-sugar workers.
 
“Sahadeo, in her speech to ex-workers two weeks ago at Woodford Lodge, assured that ex-Caroni workers would be given priority to lands before any distribution is to take place to the public. Where is the priority, Madam Minister? Why are these lands being held back?
 
“Is the Government saying that former sugar workers are not good enough to live in an upscale community and be given some dignity in their lives, or is it that the Government plans to give these lands to their friends and family?
 
“Who will oversee the application process at the HDC? Will this process be done with fairness and equity or will nepotism reign supreme?”
Indarsingh said the union has been bombarded by former sugar workers who have said they do not want land at Roopsingh Road, but at Factory Road.
 
“If it is that these lands were initially developed for the former sugar workers, why is it that they are now being denied this?” he asked.

Contending that the decision to sell lands at the four sites amounted to “continued discrimination” of sugar workers, Indarsingh said he would be meeting shortly with attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj to discuss this new twist of events.
Maharaj is representing a group of ex-sugar workers in a judicial review matter in the High Court concerning the non-receipt of lands promised them by the Government.

 Indarsingh contended that the whole question of politics has come into the distribution of lands, that “lands in these prime locations would be allocated to PNM party card holders.”
Reiterating that Caroni’s residential lots were supposed to be distributed ex-Caroni workers first in terms of where they had applied for land, Indarsingh said:
“The time has come for ex-Caroni workers to be mobilised to make their voices be heard on this land matter.”
 
— Reporting by Adrian Boodan

Angostura facing increased prices

The shuttered Brechin Castle sugar factory is among the assets of the defunct Caroni 1975 Ltd. which are being offered for sale by Government.

  

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2007-02-05/bussguardian1.html 

Angostura facing increased prices

Caroni shutdown means increased imports of molasses, the main ingredient in rum

If most manufacturers will be able to shrug off the closure of the sugar cane industry following the 2007 crop, not so Angostura Limited.

Caroni’s shutdown will increase the cost to the company of producing rum, said Michael Carballo, company secretary of the Angostura group.

For one things, he said it will mean that the company will have to import all of the molasses it uses in the manufacture of rum.

Carballo said, “The cost of molasses has been rising significantly. It will continue to affect the cost of producing rum, without a doubt.”

Asked when the price increases are likely to go into effect, Carballo could not be specific, and did not give a date, but said it will be sometime in 2007.

I suspect that most increases will take effect in late 2007/2008. It depends on what (we) could get out of the Sugar Manufacturing Company Ltd (SMCL) this year.

Currently, we get between 25-30,000 metric tonnes of molasses—about 30 per cent of our total requirement—from SMCL.”

Carballo said importing molasses, with added freight and port storage costs, will lead to a rise in the final cost of the production of rum.

The price of molasses on the international market has increased over the last year or so. It has doubled over the past three years. Molasses could cost US$150 a metric tonne, inclusive of freight,” Carballo said.

He said the supply of molasses from the SMCL has been steadily “dwindling at a slow rate,” going down from 60,000 metric tonnes to 30,000 over the last four years.

Molasses can be imported from St Kitts, Fiji and Central America, but Angostura is currently buying the raw product from Venezuela.

We deal with major commodity players like Tate and Lyle, who can source it from Guatemala and Venezuela. The freight element is high. We have to pay to store it in tanks,” the Angostura executive said.

Carballo said the company is seeking a meeting with Christine Sahadeo Minister in the Ministry of Finance, to discuss the impact of the industry’s closure on the rum industry.

 

Vsep stories: Life after Caroni

Ramdhanie Rampersad, 63, was a cane cutter.

That is, until he participated in the voluntary separation of employment programme (VSEP) offered by defunct Caroni (1975) Ltd.

Nowadays, Rampersad, of Korea Village, Roopsingh Road, Carapichaima, is not working. He survives on $1,000 from the National Insurance Board, which his wife, Lilauthee, said is barely enough to buy groceries, far less pay bills.

“I’m staying with my son in Korea Village, and he’s staying with his daughter in the same area,” Lilauthee said.

She said her husband spent much of his VSEP money on doctor’s bills and medication for diabetes and kidney ailments.

One tablet alone to treat his diabetes costs $8. Another tablet for his prostate problems costs $7.

****

Samuel Hackett of Mathura Street in Felicity, central Trinidad, had been a cane cutter at Caroni (1975) Ltd since 1958.

Hackett’s mother was a part-time cane cutter and he started cutting cane when he was nine years old. He is now 60.

This Monday afternoon, he left home to buy feed for his parrot, Simba.

Since taking VSEP, Hackett gets a day job here and there off-loading containers. Given his age, he’s not looking for full-time work. So he waits on a call from a friend when a container arrives in Enterprise to help offload electrical fittings.

His wife said they survive on their savings, having invested the VSEP money at the Unit Trust Corporation.

****

He opens his front gate at New Settlement, Dow Village, to bring in his bicycle.

Mukesh Sinanan (not his real name) worked for Caroni (1975) Ltd for more than 50 years.

He was only eight when he took up employment with the company pulling a bison cart out of the canefields.

One of his duties was to clear the fields for the bison carts to pass.

In dem days, I used to get 50 cents a day,” Sinanan said. “In 1969, I started operating crane for $45 a day.”

The date Sinanan collected his VSEP is etched into his memory—August 18, 2003.

I won’t forget that date,” Sinanan said.

His bald head is covered with a tattered Bob Marley floppy hat. His khaki pants, tucked into knee-high black garden boots, has fig stains on one leg.

He was leaning against a short wall, behind which was his sacred place of prayer. There was a lit deya illuminating the image of Mother Lakshmi and other Hindu deities.

Neither he nor his wife wanted their photos taken because Sinanan is still trying to collect outstanding money from Caroni. Poor record keeping means that the number of years he worked is in dispute and is still to be sorted out.

Sinanan keeps a garden of coconuts, green fig and pigeon peas on Caroni-owned land at Brechin Castle, but there’s little yield from it.

I plant peas, but the owner does come and pick,” Sinanan said in a deadpan voice. “That is for me and the thief. They gone and pick out the coconut.”

He said former Caroni workers were told they would get five acres of land for agricultural purposes and a lot of land to build a house, but they are now being told that those who already own a home will no longer be so entitled.

Plenty people have children. If they get a lot, they will give it to them,” Sinanan said.

Sinanan said 25 per cent of those who collected VSEP are doing nothing.

He said younger ex-Caroni employees will get work with contractors here and there, but people like himself will find it hard to secure a job.

He said he asked a crane operator for a job, but was told he’s too old.

****

Syamari Bikharie of New Settlement, Dow Village, rides a bicycle to get to the golf course at Brechin Castle, Couva.

That’s the job he has nowadays, much different from the days when he drove a tractor at Caroni (1975) Ltd.

He worked for the sugar company for 45 years. Not all of it was spent behind the wheels of a tractor and harvester, though. He started off cutting and loading cane and keeping the fields clean and tidy.

In the beginning, he worked for $2 a day. Then it went up to $2.45.

Manufacturers unfazed by Caroni closure

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2007-02-05/bussguardian1.html

BY SANDRA CHOUTI

The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) Paul Quesnel said he does not expect the end of sugar production in T&T to greatly affect the local market.

That’s because the country has for a long time been importing sugar for local consumption.

Locally produced sugar has had to be exported to the European Union to satisfy this country’s export quota under the terms of the Lome Convention

The Convention is an international aid and trade agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) group and the European Union aimed at supporting the efforts of the “ACP states” to achieve comprehensive, self-reliant and self-sustained development.

The TTMA’s CEO Natasha Mustapha agreed with Quesnel. She said the end of sugar production later this year should not directly affect its members as much as it will the farmers and those employed in the sugar cane industry.

The Sugar Manuyfacturing Company Limited imports the sugar required by TTMA members, earning a small commission for itself in the process.

SMCL purchases sugar and sells it to us,” Mustapha said. “We don’t get preferential pricing. Almost everybody in the food and beverage industry uses a small quantity of sugar. SM Jaleel is the largest user of sugar,” she said.

A smaller quantity is used by one construction company in the manufacture of concrete products and by the pharmaceutical industry, namely Genethics Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which adds it to syrups and the like.

Genethics’ director and a former TTMA president Anthony Aboud said his company buys about three to four metric tonnes of sugar a month from SMCL.

It does not make sense for me to be a direct importer. The TTMA has collectively negotiated a price from SMCL that is more competitive than if you go and buy it off the shelf,” the businessman said.

He observed that the local sugar industry was ending for the same reason as the authorities in St Kitts had decided to end that island’s sugar cultivation: it was not competitive.

It’s not a competitive industry when compared to countries like Brazil where you can get sugar at a price better than what you can get it for here,” Aboud said.

However, Quesnel said the price at which SMCL has been selling sugar to manufacturers has increased since last November.

A director at Kiss Baking Company Ltd, Quesnel said the company imports an average of 20,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually to make its cakes and breads.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry last year gave approval to manufacturers to import 60,000 metric tonnes of refined sugar.

Wayne Punnette, the ministry’s director of trade, said before October 2006, the Sugar Manufacturing Company Ltd (SMCL) was the only entity authorised to import refined sugar.

Manufacturers raised the issue that they could get sugar at a more competitive price and on that basis, government agreed for them to import sugar,” Punnette said.

The trade ministry official said import licences have been granted for the next 14 months.

He said most of the small manufacturers would not import sugar on an individual basis as it’s not worth their while to bring in a few hundred pounds.

He said it makes more economic sense for the Solos and the SM Jaleels to import sugar directly and price is the determining factor.

The more popular sources have been Brazil, Colombia and Guatemala. Wherever they can get a good price and the quality is acceptable,” Punnette said.

He said scheduling problems have prevented Guyana from supplying Trinidad with large amounts of raw sugar.

 

The problem is that Guyana and Belize can only provide raw sugar, but the demand is for refined sugar,” Punnette said.

Former Caroni CEO says most ex-workers have adjusted well

A former Caroni worker carries on doing what he knows best as he tends his own agricultural plot.

 http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2007-02-05/bussguardian1.html

Chandra Bobart’s last major responsibility as acting chief executive officer of the now defunct Caroni (1975) Ltd was to ensure that the voluntary separation employment programme (VSEP) was “properly executed in accordance with shareholders’ directions.”

Bobart, who acted as CEO in the last five months of 2003—the same year that 9,000 Caroni staff and daily paid workers were given VSEP—said most of those who went home were able to put their VSEP payments to wise use.

He said the initiative and drive of the ex-Caroni workers has helped them to survive.

“Many of them became self-employed. I interface with them on the streets and in the groceries.They have adjusted themselves. A miniscule number of them can be found in CEPEP and URP work.”

Bobart said some former sugar workers are driving taxis, working as mechanics or are employed in service or energy-based industries.

He said that given that 9,000 were displaced, the crime rate in central Trinidad did not increase, which is a credit to the character of the ex-Caroni workers.

Given the fact that people in the sugar industry have never been culturally conditioned to have a dependency syndrome and always pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, they were able to, with whatever little VSEP money they got, whatever little training they got, put it to wise use,” said Bobart, a mechanical engineer by profession.

Prior to acting as CEO, Bobart was a group factory manager in charge of Caroni’s refineries.

He got his engineering certification through two scholarships, one from Tate and Lyle, a world leading ingredients company with operations predominantly focused in Europe, the Americas and South East Asia. It produces a diverse range of food and industrial ingredients made from renewable resources such as corn (maize), wheat and sugar.

Before 1921, Tate and Lyle were two separate cane sugar refining operations. The two merged in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle. In the mid-1930s Tate & Lyle began to purchase land and set up production facilities in Jamaica, Trinidad, Belize and Mauritius. To make sure their increasing demand for sugar would be met, the United States and Britain encouraged cane sugar production in many Third World countries.

In 1965, Tate & Lyle diversified into agri-business and chemical research, leaving fewer resources to improve sugar technology or yields. In the mid-1970s, Tate & Lyle sold its plantations in Jamaica, Trinidad and Belize and began to concentrate on importing and refining in the United Kingdom. This left countries that produce and sell raw sugar with the riskiest part of the business.

Life after Caroni

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2007-02-05/bussguardian1.html 

A view across a canefield. Such views are typical of the heart of sugarcane country in central Trinidad. Photos: Dilip Singh

The wind whistles through tall pine trees atop a ridge in central Trinidad.

The view below is that of Trinidad’s sugar belt—miles and miles of cane stalks still standing, but no longer tended—that is slowing giving way to housing, industry and energy. Land adjacent to the National Energy Corporation along Rivulet Road, Couva, has been cleared for dozens of pipes which are being stored for industrial sites in south Trinidad.

 

The former estate manager is speaking candidly enough, but stops short of allowing his name to be used as he has an outstanding legal matter over land use and acquisition with sugar company officials.

He spoke of a few sugar cane farmers providing rum producer Angostura Ltd with freshly-cut canes to make its 10 Cane rum which is sold in North America.

The former manager said the contracted farmers have three hours from the time the cane is cut to get it to Angostura’s Ste Madeleine operations.

He said a French company is negotiating with some cane farmers to form a co-operative to purchase the assets of the Sugar Manufacturing Company Ltd (SMCL), which replaced Caroni.

The French company is not interested in the sugarcane itself, but the by-product—bagasse— which they plan to process into paper, the former manager said.

He also spoke about a former Caroni manager at Brechin Castle who paid $18,000 for tonnes of bagasse that was reportedly worth $3 million.

 

He used Caroni equipment and materials to fence off the bagasse,” the former estate manager said. “He made about ten times the VSEP he got.”

The former estate manager, who has cultivated citrus on land owned by Caroni but gives it all away, said efforts are being made to get former Caroni workers to form a co-operative to produce food.

 

Government has asked SMCL to help them,” the former estate manager said.

Such assistance is expected to come in the way of brush cutting land, plowing, rotavating, banking and providing fertilisers and pesticides, which many workers will not be able to afford on their own.

He explained that assistance will not be provided in the form of money, but for services and equipment provided and costed accordingly. The idea is to pay those agricultural farmers based on the quantum of vegetables produced.

I don’t believe in giving cash to produce. Money is a disincentive,” the former estate manager said.

 Regarding the occupation of Caroni-owned houses, he said they signed agreements to the effect that they can purchase those properties, but a new recommendation has been made that they can buy only 10,000 square feet of property.

In this former manager’s case, 10,000 square feet doesn’t cover his water tank and citrus fruit trees laid out in neat rows bearing handsomely in the flat plains below. He is interested in buying the property, on one condition: he can afford the price.

In the midday sun, a casual worker was brushcutting the grass, giving greater prominence to the yellow grapefruits set against pommecythere-green leaves.

Editorial : Pour some sugar on Caroni workers

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-10-25/editorial.html

 

It seems astonishingly slipshod for the Government to have allowed the situation at Caroni to fall into such disarray that Christine Sahadeo would now have to be insisting that in the “future” the vesting of lands there would be transparent.

Considering the political heat generated by the merest mention of the name of Caroni (1975) Ltd, 
and match it with the eager rancour of the Opposition on behalf of the plight of ex-Caroni employees even before they took VSEP, and it seems clear that transparency should have been job number one from the start.

But Minister Sahadeo will have to get a lot more convincing and deliver more than promises.
“Extraordinary transparency” means a lot more than running everything past Cabinet. The people who are on the line after accepting VSEP need to know that they are being supported in their hopes for an independent life and that they won’t be bypassed in some perceived land rush by higher profile businesses.

As things stand, the ex-Caroni employees have a lot to be concerned about.
Construction has begun on warehouses and a housing development on former Caroni lands despite statements to them from the Estate Management Business Development Company charged with regulating these land transfers that until the Vesting Bill is passed in Parliament, they can’t get access to their promised acreage.

So while business proceeds for companies capable of starting big projects, not a square foot of land has been sold to unemployed former Caroni workers as their VSEP payments slowly run out.
There’s simply no excuse in claiming that a valid list of eligible workers wasn’t available.
The list of everyone who was paid VSEP would have been a good place to start and how could the whole process have been so poorly planned that it would become necessary for thousands of applicants of these lands to have to apply for the lands twice?

The ex-Caroni workers who accepted the Government’s promises and plans in good faith have been handled in an extraordinarily cavalier manner and there are little signs of change.
Minister Sahadeo has shown grit and determination in her handling of accountability in the local energy sector...now she must bring the same focus to bear on ending the unease surrounding Caroni.

It’s simply not good enough to tell people who have already been waiting for almost a year that the matter will be cleared up in six month’s time.

It’s no longer possible to think about this situation bureaucratically if the Government hopes to pull even a political draw from this growing morass.

There’s no reason why the Government shouldn’t have been talking about transparency in its disbursement of Caroni lands and outlining the process six months before the Caroni workers took their VSEP instead of months afterward.

 Thousands of former Caroni workers are waiting to hear and more compellingly, to see what happens next. If there is unauthorised development on Caroni lands, then it should be swiftly investigated and brought to a halt if that turns out to be the case.

Systems and processes need to be brought to bear on a situation that’s putting hardworking people through a bureaucratic wringer unnecessarily, and the Government needs to show a more clearly articulated sense of urgency and concern for the Caroni workers who took them at their word.

Sahadeo promises to probe Caroni land irregularities

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-10-24/news5.html

Christine Sahadeo

BY SASHA MOHAMMED
 
An investigation has been launched into the construction of a rum distillery on Caroni lands at Ste Madeleine by Angostura Ltd, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Christine Sahadeo, says.
Sahadeo was responding to a Sunday Guardian story last week which noted concerns raised by Basta Hall residents about alleged irregularities in the disbursement of Caroni lands.
Most of the people of Basta Hall worked at Caroni (1975) Ltd. Awaiting news about the two acres of land for agriculture promised as a part of their VSEP package, they noted that four warehouses and a housing development had gone up in Caroni lands last year, despite Government saying it was unable to lease or sell land to them (the residents) until its Vesting Bill was passed in Parliament.

The opposition UNC has also charged, among other things, that Government plans to give the lands to their friends and family, and establish housing developments as part of a voter padding scheme.

Sahadeo, who assumed responsibility for Caroni lands earlier this year, responded to the various concerns in a wide-ranging interview last Wednesday.
She said she had been assured by both Jerry Hospedales, Caroni’s chairman; and Yathra Rao of the Estate Management Business Development Company (EMBDC), that the warehouses and housing developments in question were leased out legally.
The EMBDC is expected to take over Caroni’s lands after the Land Vesting Bill is enacted. The bill seeks to transfer Caroni lands from the now defunct company to the EMBDC.
As for the Angostura rum distillery, Sahadeo said:
“That one is being investigated right now.”
She said the information she had so far was that the Sugar Manufacturing Company (SMC) had leased out the land to the rum company, but given that the Vesting Bill was yet to be passed, this was not supposed to have happened.
Sahadeo further gave the reassurance of “extraordinary” transparency in the disbursement of all Caroni’s lands.
 
“The whole process is going to be extraordinarily transparent. We will not be leaving any room for errors or mistakes. We will be reviewing all land transactions to ensure they are authentic and balanced.

“And after these checks, Cabinet has to approve every land lease or sale. This is our way of making sure everything is transparent, because at the end of the day, Cabinet will be called on to account.

“So this should demonstrate to the country our commitment to transparency and accountability in the disbursement of these lands.”
Sahadeo has assured that in six months’ time, former Caroni employees will begin receiving their agricultural lands for farming.

Basta Hall residents have complained about delays in getting the lands, and that they have had to apply twice for the lands, once at Caroni offices last year, and six months later, at EMBDC.
Sahadeo said the Ministry had several issues to deal with, including verifying and “validating” the list of applicants for both residential and agricultural lots and doing land surveys, designs and listing of the preferential lots.
Independent firm Ernst and Young was hired to help with this project, and the Ministry recently received an authenticated list of 6,131 former employees and 17 sites for allocation of residential lots.

“We are ensuring they will get priority access to purchase the land and we will also ensure prices are affordable. Right now, we are working out the cost, but obviously, will ensure an affordable price structure.” (See side bar).
As for the agricultural lots, the minister said the EMBDC was due to give her a timeline by this week as to when they would be ready for the former employees.
Noting that these lands, too, had to undergo surveying and design checks, she said: “We have identified 17 locations, but so far, only two have been completed. We intend to start assigning them immediately, so within six months, we will have to start delivering.”
As for the residents having to apply twice, she said the second application form was more specific, and that they should not worry, since once they filled out at least one form, they would be considered.
Basta Hall residents had also requested a minimum $40,000 loan from Government for farming the lands, saying by the time they finally get these lands, their VSEP monies would have been used up because of their unemployment.
Sahadeo said that at meetings with farmers of Caroni, representatives from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) had been present to tell them about available loans.
This, she assured, would continue.
“We intend to keep bringing the farmers and ADB together, and the Ministry of Agriculture fully recognises the need to have a facilitative role in this process.”
Sahadeo said it would be left to the Government’s discretion to dispose the rest of Caroni lands, after disbursement for housing and agriculture.
“Right now, we have a shortage of industrial estates and, if the need arises, we will have to review the lands and take what we need for this.
“The thing is we can’t leave everything for agriculture, but I agree we must pursue agriculture in a more aggressive way as a government.”
“In the final analysis, the people should realise that their interest is a priority.
“I fully understand the difficulties and hardships many former workers are encountering at this time, but I am also optimistic that their futures are promising.”
“They should be reassured that Government remains committed to delivering on our commitments, and I believe we have a responsibility to ensure they get the required assistance form the State, and they get their dues on a timely basis,” Sahadeo said.

Government’s plan for disbursement of 76,608 acres of Caroni’s lands:

8,004 acres or 10.4 per cent would constitute built development—existing built development (4,262 acres); proposed usage for industrial and residential estates and commercials complexes (1,402 acres); proposed housing developments for former employees (1,022 acres)
68,604 acres or 89.6 per cent would remain in or be available for agricultural purpose for which:
—13,712 acres or 17.9 per cent would be used for new agricultural activity driven by former employees
—54,892 acres or 71.7 per cent would remain in or be available for agricultural activity.
Out of this, 22,517 acres are being used for
– pasture (1,470 acres);
– citrus (3,378 acres);
– wine making (450 acres);
– rice & other food crops
(5,036 acres);
– tree crops (1,012 acres);
– aquaculture (284 acres);
– private cane farming (10,887 acres;
– and the remaining 32,375 acres could be available for future agriculture or other uses.

Location of residential sites for former Caroni workers

Sites already developed:
Brothers Garth, Princes Town 15 acres 90 lots
Orange Field Phase I 6 acres 36 lots
Cedar Hill Phase I 5 acres 28 lots
La Fortune Phase I 3 acres 15 lots
Sites previously identified:
Orange Filed, Phase II 29 acres 174 lots
Picton Phase II 37 acres 222 lots
Woodland 15 acres 88 lots
Hermitage Phase II 55 acres 330 lots
Suitable sites:
Calcutta Settlement Road, Couva 12 acres 72 lots
Roopsingh Road, Edinburgh 94 acres 564 lots
Factory Road, Edinburgh 44 acres 261 lots
Sonny Ladoo, Exchange 36 acres 216 lots
Balmain 40 acres 240 lots
Exchange, Section I 85 acres 510 lots
La Romain, La Fortune 152 acres 914 lots
Chin Chin Rd, Jerningham Junction 137 acres 822 lots
Esperanza 10 acres 60 lots
Felicity 136 acres 815 lots
McBean, Exchange 18 acres 108 lots
Caroni Village 95 acres 570 lots
 
Proposed agricultural land:

Caroni 5,790 acres
Orange Grove 3,753 acres
Jerningham 3,037 acres
Todds Road 2,397 acres
Edinburgh 3,462 acres
Felicity 3,766 acres
Waterloo 3,418 acres
Exchange 3,961 acres
Montserrat 4,169 acres
Esperanza 3,165 acres
Reform/W/ville 5,797 acres
Cedar Hill 2,444 acres
Petit Morne 4,361 acres
La Fortune I&II 4,727 acres
La Gloria 4,542 acres
Forres Park 2,498 acres
Mora Valley 1,656, acres

Former Caroni CEO tells Govt: Shift thinking on sugar

http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-10-19/business2.html 

Clarence Rambharat, team member of the RNM, centre, chats with Caroni (1975) CEO Deosaran Jagroo, left, and Chairman Jerry Hospedales.

Photo: Adrian Boodan

By Adrian Boodan

 

Former Caroni (1975) Ltd CEO Clarence Rambharat has challenged Government to shift its thinking on sugar.

Rambharat, who is now part of the Barbados-based Regional Negotiating Machinery, spoke Saturday night at a function in his honour at the Woodford Lodge Club, Chaguanas.

Rambharat said haggling with the European Union to sustain the preferred price for sugar given to ACP producers, may not be the way to go and suggested finding alternative uses for sugar cane.
 
“A major shift has taken place in the region. People involved in the sugar industry now have to seriously consider the alternative uses for sugarcane recognising that the fight over keeping the prices in the EU regime is going to be a very difficult fight to win,” he said.
 
“Sugar is a small thing on the EU’s agenda and it is unlikely that we are going to win the battle over prices. The battle that we should be trying to win is to get funding from the EU for the diversification of sugar. When I say diversification I do not mean taking cane land and putting it into pumpkin and bodi and corn, I mean taking sugarcane and finding serious uses for it.”

However, Rhambharat who returns to Barbados on Thursday, said ethanol fuel from sugarcane might not be a viable product. “A lot of countries are talking about it mainly because they have economies of scale,” he said. “My fear is that we may not have the economies of scale to talk seriously about ethanol but talk about something else for sugar cane.”

Now ex-Caroni workers cry raw deal

 http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-06-27/business1.html

BY MARSHA MOKOOL

Villagers making a bowl of mango chow in the village gazebo. From left Krishna Beekham, Rajendra Chandreka, Retoo Manhbod, Anil Seelochan and Rajendra Persad.

Indarsingh: No need to shut down company

Nirmal Gayapersad had given 24 years of dedicated service to Caroni (1975) Ltd, but today, the father of seven is struggling to get by on the “remnants” of the retrenchment package he took home following the closure of Caroni in August, 2003.

Gayapersad, a former daily-paid worker from Basta Hall, Couva, is still on the unemployment line, taking up odd jobs here and there—like most of the other villagers.
He has already exhausted half of his VSEP package on feeding, clothing and educating his children, who range between the ages seven and 22.

They all live at home and only the eldest is employed.

Unable to find steady work, Gayapersad sought to improve his skills by taking advantage of the training programmes offered by the Government.

Although he has a six-week certificate in pipe-fitting and fabricating, he claims it has not benefitted him in any way.
 
“I done throw away that worthless certificate. It’s not valid for employment anywhere. None of those companies recognise it when I go for interviews. It’s the same old story, I don’t qualify for anything,” he complained. Gayapersad was one of several who aired their complaints when Sunday Guardian revisited the small, impoverished village last week.
Basta Hall, home to over 1,000 former Caroni workers, has been stuck in a time-warp since our last visit with residents in October, 2003.

The old-fashioned, tight-knit community of approximately 1,700 remains in a state of chronic depression, having depended on the sugar cane industry for generations.
Their withered hopes and dreams can also be compared to the 300 acres of abandoned cane fields which mark their territory and heritage.
Unemployment figures have remained consistent, with less than 50 per cent of the adult population gainfully employed in construction jobs, plying taxis or keeping shop.
Most of the retrenched workers have already exhausted most of their VSEP money, with most of it having gone toward house renovations and loan payments.
More than half of the retrenched Caroni workers are over 50, making it even more difficult to find jobs. There are five to seven children in almost every household, creating an even larger burden on unemployed parents.

Many of the youth lack education and training and still live at home, like Gayapersad’s children.
Every word and sentiment shared by the retrenched Caroni workers at Basta Hall echoed with anger, directed at the former Agriculture Minister and the PNM administration.
Nithram Ramdath, 57, an unemployed father of two, took home $189,000 after 27 years as a daily-paid worker with Caroni, but $80,000 of that went toward the reconstruction of his dilapidated two-bedroom house.
“After paying off loans, all I’m left with is enough to buy groceries,” he complained.
Although crime is practically non-existent in the quiet, traditional village, Ramdath fears that things will get worse as a result of unemployment.
“Things are getting worse because the people are not employed. When you hear the people money run low, what you expect them to do, not tief?” he said.

John Rahael:-
Health Minister John Rahael has absolutely no regrets in the crucial role he played in Government’s decision to shut down Caroni (1975) Ltd and send home 9,000 workers.
Rahael was Agriculture Minister when the decision was taken to shut down the State-owned agro-industrial company in August, 2003.
In an interview last week at the Park and Edward Streets office of the Ministry of Health, Rahael spoke about the closure of Caroni.

Financial and Economical issues
In March, 2002, Rahael said Caroni (1975) Ltd approached him for additional funds because the company had exhausted the entire budget allocated to it by then. It needed approximately $270 million in addition to the $108 million allocated in the 2001-2002 budget.
“If we did not close down Caroni the Treasury would have had to find an additional $650 million to keep operations going... and every year that figure was growing,” he said.
“Caroni had 77,000 acres of land in assets, but instead of producing a revenue, it was a drain on all the treasuries.
 
“Everyone recognised that things could not continue as it was. It was like a bottomless pit. Every year the loses kept increasing more and more.”

UNC would have done worst
“The closure of Caroni was never a political issue. It had to be dealt with by whichever administration was in power,“ Rahael said.
“UNC had intentions of shutting down Caroni because they, too, recognised that the company was literally draining the Treasury.
“The Opposition was going to do worst than what we did. Workers would not have benefited financially or otherwise if the ball was in their (UNC) court.”

Benefits reaped by former Caroni workers
The decision to shut down Caroni was not an impulsive one, nor was it based on pure economics.
“A lot of time, thought and consideration went into the restructuring of Caroni. There was nothing more that we could have done for the workers. All measures were taken to soften the landing,” Rahael said.
“In addition to enhancing the retrenchment package by 30 per cent, they (former Caroni workers) were given training and business opportunities, plus opportunities to own land and housing.
“Which other employee in T&T has been given that kind of package?
“If there was any bias, it was bias for them (Caroni workers), not against them.”

Land distribution to former Caroni workers:
On the contentious issue of land and houses promised to former Caroni workers, Rahael lamented that the process was taking longer than expected.
After the closure of Caroni, Rahael said those who were interested in agriculture would be given first preference for land. To date, none of the 5,000 to 7,000 applicants who applied to the Estate Management Business Development Company have been awarded land.
In addition, former Caroni workers were to be given first preference to purchase land and houses for their families, but to date, none of the 12,000 applicants have been satisfied.
Asked about Government’s failure to make good on its promises, Rahael only line of defence was “these things take time.”

Union’s Views
President of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers’ Trade Union Rudranath Indarsingh has maintained that the whole issue of Caroni Ltd was based on political discrimination.
“The closure of Caroni was a deliberate ploy to keep sugar workers in a state of poverty and helplessness. Their (Government’s) policy position was to ensure the sugar workers become unemployed and stay that way,” he said.
He complained that former sugar workers can no longer afford to send their children to university because the majority of them are unemployed.
“It has always been the pride of sugar workers to ensure their children be educated. Now that has been taken away from a large percentage of Indians in South and Central Trinidad,” he lamented.

Failure to deliver on promises
“Who is Rahael to say that Caroni workers benefited from the best policy ever introduced for workers in T&T?
Have they delivered on any of these promises?
“It vindicates the union’s position that the Government was not interested in the improvement of life or sociological position of Caroni workers,” he said.
On the issue of land, he argued that no linkages were put in place to facilitate the proper and timely distribution of agricultural and residential land to retrenched Caroni workers.
“We suggested that the restructuring of Caroni be done on a five to seven-year basis so that a proper process would be put in place for the distribution of agricultural and residential land,” he said.

Training programmes futile
In relation to training programmes for former Caroni workers, Indarsingh indicated: “There has been no proper analysis of the skills bank of workers. How could they come up with training programmes without examination of workers’ needs?”
He also said that the question of accreditation standards was never taken into account.
“There is no link between the courses being offered and the wider economy in terms of re-employment for ex-Caroni workers,” he added. 
 
Bad politics :-
Although he agreed that Caroni Ltd could not continue the way it was operating, Indarsingh argued that there was no need to shut down the State enterprise.
“They shut down Caroni, but they pumping money into CEPEP, URP, BWIA and other State enterprises, none of which is generating any positive rate of return to the Treasury,” he said.
“The only policy position we had was phased private sector participation. That is 51 per cent Government and 49 per cent private sector.”
He admitted that part of the restructuring exercise would have included the retrenchment of older workers, but he argued that neither the union nor the UNC ever had intentions of shutting down Caroni Ltd.
“The proposal to shut down Caroni was never formally accepted by the UNC,” he said.
He also agreed with Rahael that the Caroni administration was corrupted.
“The union has always said the Caroni administration was corrupt in terms of poor management and the misappropriation of funds,” he said.
“There was need to reduce the dependency on the Treasury. This is why we advocated the establishment of a holding company and a number of separate entities to manage the various facets of rice, sugar, rum, citrus, dairy, refining operations and field engineering.”