Comrade Maharaj, the current President General of the ATSEFU is either a stranger to the History of the Sugar Industry, a stranger to the truth or both. I hope after the following information he will be honest enough to identify the unforgivable sins committed to sugar workers by successive PNM governments (Sunday Guardian, July 19).
All citizens across the racial ethnic or religious divide south of the Caroni River and beyond are beneficiaries of successive PNM Governments' national development programmes since September 1956.
Please tell your members and supporters what was the state of the industry before the arrival of the PNM? And finally, who provided them with the following benefits and services?
One, it was the first PNM government under its first Minister of Health, Dr Winston Mahabir, 1956 to 1961, that eliminated the dreaded hookworm disease in the Sugar Belt.
Two, it was the PNM Government that extended the North South Highway from Chaguanas to Golconda, approximately 26 miles.
Three, it was the PNM Government that gave Sugar Workers under President General, Basdeo Panday, a 100 per cent wage Increase, guaranteed 40 hour work week and a pension plan after almost 300 years of slavery and Indenture ship.
Four, it was a PNM Government that gave retrenched workers the best retrenchment package in the history of the region, if not the world–a non-taxable financial package, opportunities for training, retraining, retooling in preparation for alternative employment and made lands available to employees for both construction of homes and agricultural development, re food production.
Five, two billion dollars in bad debt was written off under a PNM Minister of Agriculture Dr Keith Rowley.
Six, it was the PNM Government that purchased 77,000 acres of land from Tate & Lyle, returning one of the most valuable pieces of real estate to the people of T&T protecting the jobs of Sugar Workers, the rights and privileges of cane farmers and enhancing their standard of living.
Seven, it was a PNM Government that facilitated by an Act of Parliament the Cane Farmers Association and released them from the oppressive Colonial (SMA) Sugar Manufactures Association.
Eight, it was the vision and foresight of Dr Eric Williams and a PNM Government that invested over 50 per cent of the benefits from the first oil boom in the Pt Lisas Industrial Estate converting a swamp in Central Trinidad into the Industrial Capital of the Region in the process making Central Trinidad the most economically progressive geographical area in Trinidad and Tobago creating some of the wealthiest citizens in Trinidad and Tobago possessing some of the most valuable real estate in T&T.
Nine, the two largest poultry producers in T&T today, Nutrimix, Mr Saheed Mohammed and the late Jai Ramkissoon, founder of Arawak Poultry Farm, were both beneficiaries of generous subsides under successive PNM governments, making T&T almost self-sufficient in the poultry industry. Not forgetting the pork industry, Erin Farms, Albrosco, Mc Foods etc saving T&T millions of dollars in foreign exchange.
The Wallerfield, Cumuto and Carlsen field farmers made us almost self-sufficient in the dairy industry with generous subsidies from successive PNM Governments and guaranteed prices for their products.
Ten, the purchase of Petrotrin formerly Texaco, Shell, BP Palo Seco, BP Fyzabad, the National Petroleum Company all south of the Caroni River to protect the jobs of employees in the energy sector, who were being retrenched left, right and centre by the expatriate energy barons who were capping the wells and purchasing cheap energy from the Middle East until the OPEC revolution in 1973 sent them scampering back to our shores. Ask Mr Errol Mc Leod, himself a beneficiary. If this is true or false, let him tell you about his own generous pension courtesy PNM Government enjoying promotion off his job at Petrotrin.
Eleven, education South of the Caroni River now the academic capital of our Nation between 1970 and 1984, and 23 Secondary Schools and two teacher training colleges were constructed under the late Dr Eric Williams and the Mr. George Michael Chambers.
Twelve, purchased bagasse plant
Thirteen, construction of LABIDCO
Fourteen, purchased Trinidad Lake Asphalt
Fifteen, monetising of our national gas
Sixteen, established the National Gas Company
Seventeen, National Cash Cow Energy Corporation
Eighteen, constructed several primary schools
Nineteen, Sapa.
Twenty, several Government housing development estates from Chaguanas, Pt Lisas Garden, Edinburgh 500 to Huberts Town in Guapo providing thousands of our citizens south of the Caroni River with comfortable Housing accommodation, heavily subsidised by successive PNM Governments.
This is the history of the industry of PNM governments record south of the Caroni River, a legacy that we in the PNM are extremely proud of.
Ferdie Ferreira
Founder member of the Peoples
National Movement