G.O.B. Condemns N.T.U.C.B….Scolds ASR/B.S.I.
Marvin Mora
The government was quick to respond to the N.T.U.C.B. While the G.O.B. reprimands ASR/B.S.I. for acting in bad faith in trying to undermine the Sugar Cane Production Committee, it says that the industry is “finally poised to sign a commercial agreement that will provide the stability required for more in depth strategic planning.” But the government lashed out at the unions for being arrogant in the extreme, a statement, which vice president Mora responded to.
Marvin Mora, 2nd Vice President, N.T.U.C.B.
“I think that whosoever wrote that press release for the government needs to be fired; that’s my personal view. But I also believe that yourself realize that there is absolutely no gain other than the national interest that we have a congress representing all the workers in the country to get out of a process that is not beneficial for our people. And I say our people because if you take a look at what would happen should that industry collapse into the hands of a multinational company, you would see clearly that the cane farmers would get hurt. Cane as you all know plays a vital role in our income earnings so there is no doubt that the impact would be felt nationwide. And not only that, it goes beyond that; internationally we also stand to lose. We stand to lose because we are looking at the collapse of an industry and that will bring down our credibility in terms of investment. What we want is fairness in the negotiation process and it cannot be at the expense of the farmers taking such heavy losses. You are talking about giving away the ownership of the cane. If I’m going to give away the ownership of the cane then they need to pay me for cane, not pay me for sugar content or not pay me for volume of sugar that is in the cane. That’s the way we see it; we just want it to be fair….let’s be fair about it.”
