Combat - JanFeb10

CombatIssue#: 1 Volume#: 31 Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) January/February, 2010

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page One

INSIDE THIS EDITION...

Budget 2010: What’s in it for us? - see page 8

Meet your Branch Executives - see page 3

FITUG participatesin Mashramani 2010 - see page 2

GAWU establishes “the GAWU Labour College” - see page 7

EXAMINATION AND EXPOSURE: Guysuco’s Mismanagement - see page 6

GAWU: CONTINUING THE STRUGGLE FOR WORKERS RIGHTS

The Union’s Negotiation Team of representatives from the eight (8) sugar locations and officials of the Union at one of the negotiating sessions

WORKERS STRUGGLE YIELDS HIGHER API PAYOUT It took almost three (3) months for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) to re-solve the quantum of Annual Production Incentive (API) for last year (2009) with the Guy-ana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU). Nor-mally, the Annual Production Incentive (API) entitlement is settled before the end of the year and workers receive their payments not later than the second week in the new year. The Union by letter of November 09, 2009, proposed to Guysuco that workers be awarded nine (9) days’ pay as API for the production of

228,000 tonnes sugar. It was not until February 15, 2010 that the Union succeeded in having the issue resolved with an award of six (6) days’ pay for the production of 233,735 tonnes. The Corporation had origi-nally intended not to award a single days’ pay as API for 2009 as it was contending that at the end of 2009 it would owe its creditors G$6.4B and that it would realize a loss of G$4B. Thus, it attempted to avoid having negotiations with the Union to address the matter. On one occasion it in-formed the Union that since it

was engaged with the Union at Arbitration to address the wage dispute for 2009, it could not meet with the Union. The Union charged the Corpora-tion with a breach of the Rec-ognition and Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes Agree-ment. At last, the first meeting took place on November 26, 2009. There were eight (8) bi-lateral and conciliatory meet-ings altogether. The Corporation made an ini-tial offer of 3 days’ pay then 3½ days’ pay and finally, 4 days’ pay but and at the con-clusion of the conciliatory proceedings ,it reverted its of-

fer once again of 3½ days’ pay. The Union and its fifty (50) member team at negotiations, adjusted its original demand on December 30, 2009 to 7.35 days’ pay for a production of 233,735 tonnes. The Union’s adjusted position was deter-mined after taking an aver-age of the days’ pay and pro-duction with respect to years, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Union, recognizing that the Corporation was adamant on awarding a mere four (4) days’ pay, and decided that protest action and strike were necessary to support its claim. Continued on page seven

FITUG Participates in

Mashramani 2010

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page Two

GAWU’s: 40th Republic Anniversary Message

Forty years in the life of any nation cer-tainly constitutes a period suitable for the citizens and their leaders and institutions to reflect, review and assess. Four decades can indicate just how a country chartered a particular course to collective development, social progress or courted stagnation – or indeed, destruc-tion. That is why the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the country’s largest workers bargaining unit, seeks to reflect upon the events within the last forty years, as Guyana observes the 40th Anniversary of its Republican status. GAWU’s congratulations are tempered by sober reflection initiated by the realities of progress mixed with national challenges and set-backs. Four years after political independence from Britain, there was general consen-sus in 1970 – for the next level of national self-determination. This was the conver-sion from a Monarchy – bound State to a Republican nation within the Common-wealth. This was indeed a political and Constitutional milestone, generally em-braced by most Guyanese then – including GAWU’s founders. We hasten to point out however, that Re-publican status in 1970 found our union some thirty years into the struggle for jus-tified recognition to represent Guyana’s sugar workers. Finally, it was in the Febru-ary month of 1976 when the sugar barons and the government were forced to obey sugar workers demands for GAWU to be their sole-representatives. A much-too-long period of national iner-tia and trampling of the people’s rights – from the mid-seventies to 1992 – resulted in Guyana’s relative social and economic stagnation and stultified development. The working-class bore the brunt of the devastation, as they do to this day, despite noticeable improvements.

The dawn of a new political and govern-mental era by late 1992, offered hope and national and international good well even as the Republic was again beset by both political turmoil between 1997 and 2002. But the national institutions survived these onslaughts. The Guyanese people appreciated the managerial policy strate-gies and rescue abilities in the face of post-2002 criminal enterprise and the Great Flood disaster of 2005. GAWU itself is still struggling ahead full steam in the face of external, European Union – engineered challenges to the sale of Guyana’s sugar and recently, the reluctance of local sugar executives to truly recognize the sector’s workers’ worth. In a sense, it is GAWU’s responsible pos-ture as a national organisation represent-ing the labour of vital sectors of the Re-public’s economy, which informs its own policies and conciliatory character in the face of both global and local economic challenges. GAWU’s earnest wish is that our lead-ers, on all sides of the Guyanese political spectrum, find some way to negotiate joint ventures – for our developmental future. Let the post-fortieth Republic Anniversary milestone be characterized by co-opera-tion and less confrontation. Let not local elections, global downturns, or petty dif-ference of approaches hinder our ability to resolve disagreements. Celebrations of Mashramani 2010, whilst good, needed, creative therapy, will ring hollow and will be just phony and temporary if all of us do not commit to conciliation and true co-op-erative effort after Mash Day. GAWU salutes the Heroes of the 1763 Rebellion! GAWU salutes the Heroes of the strug-gle against colonialism – the engineer of our Independence and Republican-ism! Long live the Republic of Guyana! Happy Mashramani 2010.

President Bharrat Jagdeo flanked by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Frank Anthony as they stan at attention as the Golden Arrowhead is hoisted

The streets of Georgetown came alive on February 23, 2010 as hun-dreds of splendid, colourfully deco-rated revellers took to the streets in their eye catching costumes and floats as they participated in the main event to mark Guyana’s 40th anniver-sary as a Republic. More than 33 bands took to the roads showcasing various topical themes and aspects of development much to the admiration of the thousands who came out to be part of the day’s hap-penings. There were too, many visi-tors enjoying themselves, gyrating to popular sounds. The crowd was not disappointed as several bands put their best foot for-ward in an attempt to show Guyanese and visitors alike that Mashramani can be and was indeed revitalised back to the lively, fun loving ‘ celebra-tion after a job well done’ like it use to be in the past years. Several Government Ministries in-cluding the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Ministry of Public Service, as well as Banks DIH, Digicel, Carib, Body of Christ Church, Guyana Power and Light, the Peoples Progressive Party which itself is celebrating its

60th Anniversary partcipated in the event. Among the bands, was the Federa-tion of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana, which saw members from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the National Association of Agricultural, Commer-cial and Industrial Employees (NAA-CIE) and the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) participating in the Mashramani celebrations for the second time. The band under the theme “For Integ-rity and Independence through Unity in Guyana” – FITUG” comprised of 400 revelers wearing the national colours of the Golden Arrow Head of Guyana representing the patriotism, we all should embrace. GAWU’s contingent comprised of almost three hundred (300) persons drawn from amongst the Union’s membership in the sugar industry and some of its other bargaining units. All the bands and revelers celebrat-ed together this national event which spoke to the spirit of togetherness as a people manifesting our cultural ex-pressions of dance, design, music and merriment truly befits Mashramani – the celebration of after a collective ef-fort.

A section of the FITUG contingent in the Mashramani Parade on February 23, 2010

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page Three

GAWU PHAGWAH MESSAGE 2010

How quickly these annual religious, festive and national celebrations seem to come around. Again, it is time for the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to join the spir-it of our Hindu community as it celebrates the joyous occasion of Holi, or Phagwah.

And how all encompassing is the Holi Festival with its universal imagery, themes and symbol-ism! The dawning of Spring represents re-birth and rejuvenation of the fields of life and living; Holika fiery demise denotes the transcendency of all that is good over all that is bad; righteous-ness over evil intentions, greed and covetuous-ness.

May the thousands of Hindu members of GAWU remember the virtues most desirable for both personal and national development as they celebrate with the symbols of the festi-val, the abeer, the powders, the clean water, the chowtals and the dances. Only a festival such as Phagwah, not unlike the Christian festival of Christmas, can attract even non-Hindus to its infectious environment and general merriment – making it now truly National in Character.

Agriculture, as symbolized by Spring-time at-tention to sowing, and planting, is at the heart of GAWU’s representation so it is easy to associate with the practical aspects of Holi, whilst not ig-noring the sentiments of the mythological tales.

GAWU uses this opportunity, as well, to caution devotees NOT to impose certain elements of their celebrations on those who do not wish to participate. Also GAWU joins with those disci-plines voices who call for the turning away from alcohol – oriented activities. Preserve the dig-nity of Holi and truly observe the best in Hindu behavior which can earn the respect of all Guya-nese.

Happy Holi to All!

Guyanese celebrating Phagwah

GAWU YOUMAN-NABI MESSAGE 2010

We stated it in our Message to Muslim and all Guyana last year and its relevance bears repeti-tion once more:

“The Holy Prophet Mohammed (On Whom Be Peace) founder of a faith that is the, reportedly, the fastest growing religion in the world, was a Messenger who fashioned a set of religious, spiritual and more principles to guide man-kind through the morass they often create for them-selves. Islam reached discipline, devotion to a higher Creator and continuous consideration for the less fortunate amongst us. Those virtues all help to keep Believers strong and resilient to face life’s worldly woes”.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Work-ers Union (GAWU) – a worker bargaining unit which boasts a significant number of members of the Islamic faith – associates itself with the observance of this annual Muslim celebration of BOTH the birth and life of the Prophet Moham-

med (On Whom Be Peace).

The tenets, teachings and edicts of the Holy Koran oblige Muslims to be exemplary citizens of compassion, charity and generosity to the less fortunate. The global economic challenges of these times, coupled with our own nation’s struggles against an economy under strain, as well as hostile weather emergencies, have all thrown up citizens who look forward to the as-sistance which Muslims have a reputation for dispensing.

GAWU therefore, lauds our Islamic Community for their sterling image role and life-style in Guy-ana and trust that they never depart from their Prophets admonitions.

Happy Youman Nabi to the Muslim Community!

Meet your Branch ExecutivesSkeldon EstateChairman: Deodat Persaud Thakurdin, Vice Chair-man: R.P. Churan, Secretary: Ernest Mangal, As-sistant Secretary/Treasurer: Uranie Heeram, Committee Members: Keith Crawford, Bhoj Kumar Karim, Richard Alfred, Lennox A. April, Barbara Cort, Jerrick Southwell, Jeewan Persaud, Sabitree Sama-roo, Victorine Crawford, Zalina Gomes, Stephan Welcome, Glendon Hazeel, Gillion Crandon, Azad Husain, Desiree Pearson, Chetranie Edmohamed and Michelle McBean

Rose Hall EstateChairman: Mohamed Ahmad, Vice Chairman: Seekumar Chand, Secretary: Charles Cadogan, As-sistant Secretary/Treasurer: David Budhram, Committee Members: Lawerence Luke, Eze Price, Sandra Parris, Donna Welch, Mawawattie Karpen, Deonarine Sudhai, Colette Sinclair, Stephany Semple, Kowsilla Ramotar, Nalini Sukhia, Leslin Southwell, Parbattie Shivchand and Inderjit Persaud

Blairmont EstateChairman: Keemal Seosahay, Vice Chairman: Col-lin Fraser, Secretary: Sheik Baksh, Assistant Sec-retary/Treasurer: Bickham Singh, Committee Members: Julius Nurse, Dharamdeo Brijwalla, Chet-ram Ramjattan, Ramnarace, Sewlall Bridgelall, Ar-nold Jagnandan, Feddie Buddhu, Mansuram Briglall, Gowkarran Inderjeet, Mohamed Yussuph, Mahadai Karamchand, Verney Henry, Claint Craig, Josada Kisholl, Lakeram Sookram and Vijai Farad

Enmore EstateChairman: Sandra Heywood, Vice Chairman: Mi-chelle Robinson, Secretary: Ramdial Dasai Persaud, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer: Richard DeFre-tias, Committee Members: Vernon Sancho, Sandra Joseph, Fenton Hossannah, Patrick DeFretias, Keith Waldron, Hardat Singh, Gerald Francis and Desrey Gentle

Wales EstateChairman: Vishnu Lewis, Vice Chairman: Herbert Collins, Secretary: Baljit Ramjit, Assistant Secre-tary/Treasurer: Ramsammy Naidu, Committee Members: Cheryll Assaye, Raydon Calder, Jadoon-auth Singh, Chetram Udit, R. Jaimangal, Cheryl Eman-uel, Leon Sinclair, Harnlall Budhu and Sharon Smith

Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund Committee (SILWFC)Chairperson: Kavita Bishun, Vice Chairman: A.D. Persaud, Secretary: R. Perdaud, Assistant Secre-tary: C. Samaroo, Committee Members: A. Ramdas, C. Sahadeo, D. Geer

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page Four

Reflections of Fidel:

THE RIGHT OF HUMANITY TO EXIST Climate change is already causing consid-erable damage and hundreds of millions of poor people are suffering the consequenc-es. The most advanced research centers as-sure that very little time is left for avoiding an irreversible catastrophe. James Hansen, of NASA’s Goddard Institute, says that a level of 350 parts carbon dioxide per mil-lion is still tolerable; today, however, the figure is in excess of 390 and it is increas-ing at a rate of 2 parts per million every year, exceeding the levels of 600,000 years ago. Each one of the last two decades has been the hottest ever recorded. The above-mentioned gas increased 80 parts per mil-lion in the last 150 years. The ice of the Artic Sea, the vast, two-ki-lometer-thick layer that covers Greenland, the glaciers of South America which feed its principle sources of freshwater, the co-lossal volume that covers Antarctica, the layer that covers Kilimanjaro, the ice that covers the Himalayas and the enormous frozen mass of Siberia are visibly melting. Notable scientists fear qualitative jumps in these natural phenomena that give rise to changes. Humanity placed great hope in the Co-penhagen Summit, after the Kyoto Pro-tocol signed in 1997, which entered into effect in 2005. The summit’s resounding failure gave way to shameful episodes that require due clarification. The United States, with less than 5% of the world’s population, issues 25% of its carbon dioxide. The new president of the United States had promised to cooper-ate with international efforts to confront a problem that is affecting that country as much as the rest of the world. During meetings prior to the summit, it became evident that the leaders of that nation and of the richest nations maneuvered to make the weight of the sacrifice fall onto emerg-ing and poor countries. A large number of leaders and thousands of representatives of social movements and scientific institutions, determined to fight to preserve humanity from the great-est threat in its history went to Copenha-gen, invited by the summit’s organizers. In order to focus on the political aspects of the summit, I will not go into details con-cerning the brutality of the Danish public forces, which attacked thousands of dem-onstrators and guests of the social move-ments and scientists who went to Den-mark’s capital. In Copenhagen, real chaos prevailed, and unbelievable things happened. So-cial movements and scientific institutions were not allowed to attend the debates. There were heads of state and govern-ment who were not even able to issue their opinions on vital problems. Obama and the leaders of the richest countries took over the conference with the complicity of the Danish government. The agencies of the United Nations were relegated. Barack Obama, who arrived on the last

day of the summit to remain there for only 12 hours, met with two groups of guests “hand-picked” by him and his collabora-tors. Together with one of them, he met with the rest of the highest delegations in the plenary hall. He spoke and imme-diately left via the back door. In that ple-nary session, except for the small group se-lected by him, the representatives of other countries were not allowed to speak. Dur-ing that meeting, the presidents of Bolivia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela were allowed to speak, because the presi-dent of the summit had no alternative than to concede that in the face of the strenuous demands of those present. In an adjoining room, Obama met with the leaders of the richest countries, sever-al of the most important emerging states, and two very poor ones. He presented a document, negotiated with two or three of the most important countries, ignored the United Nations General Assembly, gave press conferences, and marched away like Julius Caesar during one of his victorious campaigns in Asia Minor, which prompted him to exclaim, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Even Gordon Brown, prime minister of the United Kingdom, had affirmed on Oc-tober 19, “If we do not reach a deal at this time, let us be in no doubt: once the dam-age from unchecked emissions growth is done, no retrospective global agreement in some future period can undo that choice. By then it will be irretrievably too late.” Brown concluded his speech with dra-matic words: “We cannot afford to fail. If we act now; if we act together; if we act with vision and resolve, success at Copen-hagen is still within our reach. But if we falter, the earth itself will be at risk… For the planet there is no plan B.” Now he arrogantly stated that the Unit-ed Nations cannot be taken hostage by a small group of countries like Cuba, Ven-ezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Tuvalu, while accusing China, India, Brazil, South Africa and other emerging states of giving in to the seduction of the United States and signing a document that dumps the Kyoto Protocol into the garbage bin and contains no binding commitment whatsoever on the part of the United States and its rich allies. I feel obliged to remember that the Unit-ed Nations was born just six decades ago, after the last World War. There were no more than 50 independent countries at the time. Today, it is made up of more than 190 independent states, after the odious colonial system ceased to exist because of the determined struggles of the peoples. Even the People’s Republic of China was denied UN membership for many years, and a puppet government held its rep-resentation in that institution and on its privileged Security Council. The tenacious support of a growing num-ber of Third World countries was indis-pensable to the international recognition of China, and an extremely important fac-

tor for the United States and its allies in NATO recognizing its (China’s) rights in the United Nations. In the historic struggle against fascism, the Soviet Union made the largest contri-bution. More than 25 million of its sons and daughters died, and enormous destruction ravaged the country. Out of that struggle, it emerged as a superpower, capable of countering, in part, the absolute domin-ion of the imperial system of the United States and the former colonial powers in their unlimited plunder of the peoples of the Third World. When the USSR disinte-grated, the United States extended its po-litical and military power toward the East, toward the heart of Russia, and its influ-ence over the rest of Europe grew. There is nothing strange about what happened in Copenhagen. I would like to emphasize the unjust and offensive nature of the statements of the prime minister of the United Kingdom, and the yanki attempt to impose, as a sum-mit agreement, a document that was never discussed at any time with the participat-ing countries. At a December 21 press conference, Cu-ban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated a truth that is impossible to deny; I will use some of his exact paragraphs: “I would like to emphasized that in Copenha-gen, there was no agreement whatsoever of the Conference of the Parties; no deci-sion whatsoever was made with respect to binding or non-binding commitments or international law; there was simply no agreement in Copenhagen. “The summit was a failure and a decep-tion of world public opinion…. The lack of political will was laid bare…. “It was a step backward in the actions of the international community to prevent or mitigate the effects of climate change…. “The average world temperature could rise by 5 degrees….” Immediately, our foreign minister added other interesting facts about possible con-sequences according to the latest scientific investigations. “From the Kyoto Protocol to date, the emissions of the developed countries have risen by 12.8%… and 55% of that volume comes from the United States. “One person in the United States con-sumes, on average, 25 barrels of oil annu-ally; one European, 11; one Chinese citi-zen, less than two, and one Latin American or Caribbean, less than one. “Thirty countries, including those of the European Union, consume 80% of the fuel produced.” The very real fact is that the developed countries which signed the Kyoto Protocol drastically increased their emissions. They now wish to replace the base of emissions adopted starting 1990 with that of 2005, with which the United States, the maxi-mum issuer, would reduce its emissions of 25 years earlier by only 3%. It is a shame-less mockery of world opinion.

The Cuban foreign minister, speaking on behalf of a group of ALBA countries, de-fended China, India, Brazil, South Africa and other important states with emerging economies, affirming the concept reached in Kyoto of “common, but differentiated responsibilities; meaning that the historic accumulators and the developed coun-tries, those responsible for this catastro-phe, have different responsibilities from those of the small island states, or those of the countries of the South, above all the least-developed countries…. “Responsibilities means financing; re-sponsibilities means the transfer of tech-nology under acceptable conditions, and then Obama makes a play on words, and instead of talking about common but dif-ferentiated responsibilities, talks about ‘common, but differentiated responses.’ “He leaves the plenary without deigning to listen to anybody, nor had he listened to anybody before his speech.” At a subsequent press conference, be-fore leaving the Danish capital, Obama affirmed, “We’ve made meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough in Copenha-gen. For the first time in history the major economies have come together to accept their responsibility…” In his clear and irrefutable statement, our foreign minister affirmed, “What is meant by ‘the major economies have come together to accept their responsibility?’ It means that they are shrugging off an im-portant part of the burden signified by the financing for the mitigation and adaptation of countries — above all the entire South — to climate change, onto China, Brazil, India and South Africa; because it must be said that in Copenhagen, there was an as-sault on, a mugging of China, Brazil, India, and South Africa, and of all of the countries euphemistically referred to as developing.” These were the resounding and irrefut-able words with which our foreign minis-ter recounted what happened in Copenha-gen. I should add that, at 10 a.m. on Decem-ber 19th, after our Vice President Esteban Lazo and the Cuban foreign minister had left, there was a belated attempt to resus-citate the corpse of Copenhagen as a sum-mit agreement. At that point, virtually no heads of state or even ministers were left. Once again, the exposé of the remaining members of the Cuban, Venezuela, Boliv-ian, Nicaraguan and other countries’ del-egations defeated the maneuver. That was how the inglorious summit ended. Another fact that cannot be forgotten was that, during the most critical moments of that day, in the early morning, the Cuban foreign minister, together with the delega-tions that were waging their dignified bat-tle, offered UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon their cooperation in the increasingly difficult battle that is being waged, and in the efforts that must be undertaken in the future to preserve the life of our species. Continued on page five

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page Five

INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL

Continued from page four

The environmental group WWF warned that climate change will become uncontrollable in the next 5 to 10 years if emissions are not drastically cut. But it is not necessary to demonstrate the essence of what is being said here about what Obama did. The U.S. president stated on Wednesday, December 23 that people were right to be disappointed by the outcome of the Summit on Climate Change. In an interview with the CBS television network, the president noted, “Rather than see a complete collapse in Copenhagen, in which nothing at all got done and would have been a huge backward step, at least we kind of held ground and there wasn’t too much backsliding from where we were…” Obama, according to the news dispatch, was the one most criticized by those countries which, virtually unani-mously, believe that the outcome of the summit was di-sastrous. The UN is now in a predicament. Asking other countries to adhere to the arrogant and antidemocratic agreement would be humiliating for many states. Continuing the battle and demanding at all meetings, particularly those of Bonn and Mexico, the right of hu-manity to exist, with the moral authority and strength the truth affords us, is, in our opinion, the only way forward.

Will that be one lump or two? Or, perhaps, none. A sug-ar rush is gripping the global commodities market. The price of the world’s favourite sweetener shot to its high-est level for 29 years this week in a worrying surge that has sparked political strife and street protests in parts of southern and south-east Asia. A militant women’s group staged a breakfast demon-stration outside government offices in the Philippines on Tuesday, demanding intervention to bring down sugar prices. Protesters banged utensils at a rally in the Indian state of Bihar, and in Pakistan the authorities have ra-tioned sugar, prompting violent confrontations as anger spills over at the perceived greed of producers. Raw sugar traded on New York’s Intercontinental Ex-change surged in price by 128% last year, while white sugar on London’s Liffe trading floor jumped by 123%. In the US markets on Monday, the price of a pound of raw sugar touched 30 cents for the first time since 1981, far above the range of 12 to 15 cents prevalent between 2007 and early 2009. Toiling in a generally low-profile corner of the commod-ity markets, sugar traders are suddenly in the spotlight. But the immediate blame for this spike in prices lies in a factor indisputably beyond human control – the weather. A late monsoon disrupted sugar harvests in India, while too much rain disrupted supplies in the world’s biggest sugarcane-growing nation, Brazil. “It was the wettest harvest season here for decades,” says Andy Duff, a commodities analyst at Rabobank in São Pau-lo. “There was less cane harvested than previously antici-pated and the quality was lower than anticipated.” For the second consecutive year, global supply has fallen short of demand and many nations with sugar stockpiles are running short. The global financial crisis has not helped, making it harder for growers to finance outlay on fertiliser and equipment. In South America, environmental incentives have seen some sugarcane di-verted into production of ethanol fuel. Meanwhile, demand is robust – fuelled by population growth and rising incomes in emerging markets such as

China. In poorer nations, a good chunk of every extra dol-lar earned is directed at food. Population drift to the towns also adds to the appetite for sugar, according to Duff: “Increasing urbanisation drives changes in diet. It’s associated with more consumption of sugary snacks and processed food.”

Analysts at Commerzbank describe the sugar situation as “the perfect storm”. In a research note, the German bank suggests the price still has “immense upside potential” and could even reach 40 cents per pound – a level exceed-ed only twice, during sugar crises in 1975 and 1980. Tom Mikulski, a market strategist at commodities dealer Lind-Waldock in Chicago, says: “Unless we have a massive jump in production, I don’t really see this market breaking any time soon.” For consumers, the link between commodity prices and supermarket costs is complicated. Sugar, more than most traded products, occupies a financial niche in which Wall Street and the high street are worlds apart. To protect European sugar growers, the European Union routinely keeps sugar prices artificially high – so shoppers in Brit-ain and on the continent are used to paying a premium anyway. The US has a similarly protectionist setup, limiting im-ports to safeguard its own farmers. But snack manufac-turers such as Mars, Hershey and Krispy Kreme have been urging the Obama administration to raise import quotas, warning that a shortage of sugar could lead to job losses. But in developing countries, the price of sugar has his-torically been lower and the recent spike in cost has been a shock. A columnist in the Manila Standard Today news-paper complained this week that a kilo of white sugar in public markets in the Philippines had jumped in cost from 40 pesos to between 50 and 60 pesos since Christmas. And a kilo of sugar on the black market in Pakistan, where sugar consumption is among the highest per person in the world, can reportedly fetch more than a day’s pay. “If you look at the impact, sugar comprises a greater share of the food basket in developing markets,” says

Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an expert in agricultural commodities at Barclays Capital. “We don’t really ex-pect these problems to be a precedent set for devel-oped countries, which have a kind of artificial system by which prices are set.” Since sugar inflation began to take hold in mid-2009, the news from growers has been consistently bad. In addition to poor harvests in India and Brazil, smaller producers such as Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam have come up short. “It’s not that demand has grown ex-traordinarily this year – it’s been growing in line with long-term trends,” says Unnikrishnan. “The problem has been underperformance on the production side – and the big surprise is that, in spite of price rises, demand has held up.” In an unusual move from Brussels this week, farm commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel announced that the European Union intends to export 500,000 tonnes of sugar to the global markets above and beyond its usual quota to try to ease a squeeze in supply. This faced swift condemnation from other sugar produc-ing nations, which complain that European farmers are unfairly subsidised. Brazil’s sugarcane industry association, Unica, said it was a short-sighted breach of international trade rules. Sensing an opportunity, speculators have shown little mercy. Hedge funds have piled into sugar, ag-gravating lurches in the price. Blaming speculators, however, would be a cheap shot, according Jonathan Kingsman, founder of the specialist sugar broker

Kingsman, based in Switzerland. “The speculators are involved and they’ll always be in-volved, but there are fairly solid fundamentals to this market,” says Kingsman. “There’s not enough sugar to go around.” A calming in prices, he believes, will ultimately happen once growers react to the prospect of higher income and plant more crops: “Price is the best possible fertiliser,” he says.By Andrew Clark

THE RIGHT OF HUMANITY...

Consumers go sour on the market’s sugar rush“A combination of bad harvests and speculation has sent the price of cane soaring - and provoked protests and violence in Asia”

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page Six

EXAMINATION AND EXPOSUREGuysuco’s Mismanagement

Continued from last edition

East Demerara Estates

A ministerial appointed Commission of Enquiry, in 2008, comprising Cde Vic Oditt (Chairman), Cdes Aslim Singh and Abrahim Nagamootoo (GAWU Represen-tatives), Cdes Nandalall Harriprashad and Rollingston Robinson (Guysuco Represen-tatives) in its Report on the performance of East Demerara Estates, found that cane fields, just a stone’s throw away from Guy-suco’s Head Office, where the CEO and other senior functionaries are located, had had sparse cane growth, significant weed infestation and poor drainage. Note below some of the revelations made by the Commission of Enquiry:-

Re: Enmore EstateField Worker/Supervisory Management In-teractionsPage Eighteen (18) “This Enquiry Team has found that the relationship that exists between manage-ment and workers could be greatly im-proved. The Management has claimed that there is an “open door” policy where work-ers are free to discuss their issues. In the Team’s opinion there is a significant differ-ence in having the opportunity to dialogue with management and being invited to dialogue. It was reported to the Team that under Mr Vishnu Panday’s tenure the workers and management had very cordial rela-tions, since Mr Panday paid keen inter-est to workers issues and dealt with their grievances in a timely manner thereby pre-empting strikes to some extent and creating an environment in which workers felt comfortable and more willing to work. Also under Mr Panday’s tenure, all field managers (including himself) prioritized field issues in the mornings to deal with any issues which arose.”

Re: LBI EstateTractor UsagePage Twenty-Seven (27) “The usage of tillage tractors is unsat-isfactory since the machines on aver-age achieved 0.6 hectare per day despite twenty-four (24) hour operations. This low level of efficiency has prevented the achievement of the estate’s land prepara-tion programme. Like Enmore the estate is unable to attract operators owing to the depressed rates of pay. This estate also claimed that its fleet suffered frequent breakdowns and parts were unavailable on time. This was sub-sequently found to be inaccurate as the Maintenance Manager and MMD person-nel verified that most parts were easily sourced. As at Enmore, the estate simply placed orders for spares and there was no follow up action; a more proactive ap-

proach needs to prevail.”

WeedsPages Twenty-Eight (28) & Twenty-Nine (29) “LBI was found to be seriously affected by weeds for some time now and from all ap-pearances few control methods have been employed. In some areas the Team was surprised to see some fields overgrown with bush rather than sugar cane. Despite having a high population of weeds LBI was found to have applied fertilizers by air when it was wet and raining. This kind of environment is most conducive to weed proliferation and fertilizer loss. From research conducted by the Team, LBI, like Enmore was found to be engaged in spraying operations in spite of signifi-cant levels of rainfall. It is clear that the herbicides will be ineffective and will re-sult in prolific weed growth as evident in the cultivation. This estate also claimed that its chemical weed control was not timely done as a re-sult of a lack of herbicides. MMD records, however, indicated that the estate was in fact oversupplied with many herbicides during 2008. The Team attempted to resolve this is-sue but the conflicting reports that were provided require a more in depth investi-gation and as such the Team recommends that an urgent investigation be done by the Agriculture Audit Department. The Agriculture Research Director confirmed that there had been no major shortage of herbicides. He cited labour shortage and the timeliness of application as the factors that were problematic. Weeds were seen everywhere, including in drains, fields and dam beds in the post harvest areas. The estate has always been considered to be weedy and as such a spe-cial gang was tasked in dealing with “tough weeds.” This gang has been since been functioning ineffectively since they are also utilized in the post harvest cleanup of fields. This has allowed for the re-growth of Anti-Desma, Guinea Grass, Antelope Grass and Tanner Grass.”

Insect ControlPage Twenty-Nine (29) “The release of flavipes cotesia, a bio-control pest for the small moth borer has been good, but the lack of proper field surveillance in identifying and controlling Castnia licus has caused much damage to the estate. The presence of Castnia on this location was only identified when there was al-ready an outbreak. The damage caused by Castnia has been overemphasized for the poor practices that have led to the decline of the cultivation. Management reported that the short-age of Agronomy hands contributed to the above state of affairs.”

Uitvlugt Estate

A Review Committee comprising Guy-suco Board of Directors Member, Raj Singh (Chairman) and D. Seeraj and E. Vijayan (Members) found in 2007 that Uitvlugt Estate’s cultivation was significantly run-down with a significant proliferation of weeds in the fields and in the canals of the Estate. Even more revealing was the testi-mony given by a previous General Manager to the Committee, whereby he confirmed that he was tasked by the Chief Executive, a Booker-Tate personnel, to prepare a Pa-per for the closure of the Estate despite the mandate of the Guysuco’s Board to main-tain productively all eight (8) estates. The rumour that the Estate was slated for clo-sure had a demoralizing effect on the Es-tate’s workforce as it was widely said that the Estate was going to be closed leading to high incidences of absenteeism and lack of commitment. Despite significant rehabili-tation of the Estate’s cultivation produc-tion is nowhere near to what is was prior to it being prepared for closure. We wish to repeat some of the revealing findings of the Uitvlugt Estate Review Committee:-

Flooding of the CultivationPages Seven (7), Eight (8) & Ten (10) “Since the estate is known to have high level of rainfall, the need for food water management practices inclusive of proper drainage is of paramount important. From the estate’s admission the de-silting pro-gramme was not kept apace; it is therefore quite clear that the estate was not pre-pared to deal with any abnormal rainfall. Siltation of out-falls is experienced along the entire costal belt of Guyana and such a condition is increase depending on how effectively they are “flushed” by blowing of sluices. Definitely, a sluggish flow from a poor maintained drainage network will encourage such siltation. There are other management techniques that can be used to counter such problems by use of ma-chinery or even manually. The cultivation and total hectarage drained over the number of years have remained constant from Cornelia Ida to Budrust. The rainfall experienced in 1996 was 3666mm which has been the highest over the past 20 years, 1986 to 2006. The number of drainage sluices in 1996 was eight a total base width of 127 feet. After that, two additional sluices were added at Uitvlugt West in 1997 and Stewartville in 1999 totalling (10) ten with 157.5 feet of base width. Although the Corporation has an exist-ing policy to de-silt facades, once in ev-ery three years and sidelines once every five years, it was very clear that this pro-gramme was not adhered to and the sys-tem was left to deteriorate. Despite the high importance/require-ment for effective drainage, estates exca-

vators were abandoned and out-sourcing failed. This rendered the estate being un-prepared to deal with the usual normal rainfall pattern experienced GD gauges observed were all in poor state and at vari-ous awkward angles; hence, the readings were misleading. It was therefore impos-sible for the estate to manage the system. The drainage problems were compounded with numerous amounts of water entering the estate from the conservancy and exter-nal sources due to breaches. The situation required pro-active management and good surveillance of known problematic areas. Instead of correcting the drainage profile to enhance gravity flow, sidelines were not maintained and the more efficient method (gravity) was compromised by the instal-lation of pumps. The placement of pumps did not solve the problems of drainage while the cost factor was high. Two (2) pumps were placed at Anna Cath-erina West 71 and are more or less func-tioning as re-circulation pumps – Bob Mer-ry March, 2006 (Appendix I) rather than drainage. It must be noted that the estate has no need for recirculation. While the sidelines were not dug or cleaned to facili-tate gravity drainage, the access dam was cut across and huge bamboo trees (veg-etation) have grown over the years and made accessibility impossible to attend to the maintenance of those sidelines (Anna Catherina West & Edinburgh). The perma-nent placement of the above mentioned pumps gave rise to an improper location with cost running into millions of dollars annually. The additional pumps at Uitvlugt West and De Williem are poorly sited and of little effectiveness to the drainage system. Here gravity drained sidelines were com-promised (cut off) to do pumping. The fol-lowing must be noted:-The check sluices placed in the sidelines at Uitvlugt West and Zeeburg were con-structed at an elevated level thus creat-ing a restriction for efficient gravitational draft (1.78’ and 1.85’ respectively above original design). The pumps discharge water into the navigation system then blown through the Uitvlugt West sluice, which is connected to the Zeeburg façade. So water re-enters the drainage network (top level 52.43GD and 50.69GD respectively).”“It was very obvious from the various sce-narios referred to above that the drainage system was left unattended for an extend-ed period of time which from all indica-tions amounts to neglect by management.Senior agriculture personnel within the industry have indicated that there is a lack of in-depth consultation at the local level on the placement of pumps and in the case of Uitvlugt there was even disagreement with the consultant.” Continued in next edition

COMBAT: January/February, 2010 Page Seven

The GAWU Labour College

The dream of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to secure once again its own school facilities has been realized with the construction of a three (3) storied con-crete building adjacent to the Union’s Headquarters at 59 High Street and Wight’s Lane, Kingston, Georgetown. The GAWU School named the GAWU Labour College whose construction took over one (1) year to be completed as a cost of more than G$100M boasts two (2) classrooms, dormitory facili-ties for thirty-five (35) students, a li-brary and a recreation room among its facilities. The Opening Ceremony of the College will take place on 24th March, 2010, coinciding with the month of activities celebrating the life and work of for-mer Honorary President of the Union, Dr Cheddi Jagan, who was a Working Class Champion and provided vision-ary leadership during the twenty-eight (28) year struggle of GAWU with the Sugar Planters to obtain Union recog-nition for the thousands of sugar work-ers who were saddled with a Company Union for almost four (4) decades. In GAWU, Dr Jagan always clamored for the Union to have its own school facilities to conduct education activi-ties among its rank and file members. After the Union won its recognition battle with the Sugar Planters in 1976, becoming the bargaining agent of the sugar workers, the largest workforce in Guyana, Dr Jagan was instrumental in ensuring that a Union School be fa-cilitated within the same building of the headquarters of the Union at Re-gent Street, Georgetown. The GAWU Labour College will con-tinue the work of the Union School which was destroyed when the Union’s Headquarters was burnt to ashes in

April, 2001, following post elections disturbances in Georgetown. Prior to the fire, the Union School facilitated over one hundred (100) of its rank and file in attending a number of two (2) weeks courses organized every year. With this new College, the Union will do much more in training and educat-ing its wide membership. The feature address at the Opening Ceremony will be delivered by Cde Ashton Chase, author of a number of trade union books. Cde Chase is a Se-nior Counsel and has been awarded the Order of Excellence, the highest national award in Guyana.

The Minister of Education, Cde Shaik Baksh, Minister of Labour, Cde Manzo-or Nadir and Director of the ILO Subre-gional Office for the Caribbean, Dr Ana Teresa Romero will also make brief re-marks while the Union’s President will provide a background on the Union’s College.

As in the past, our educational pro-grammes will rely on the assistance of several guest lecturers who will cover several subject areas. Such involve-ment is intended to widen the knowl-edge base of our members, simulta-neously equipping them to ably and responsibly carry out their duties as workers/citizens. Among the subjects to be taught at the College are a His-tory of Trade Unionism, Union Consti-tution/Rules, Organization and Struc-ture of the Union, the National System of Industrial Relations, Labour Law and National Labour Policy, the Prin-ciples of Management among others. Our educational work aims at deepen-ing participants’ knowledge and rais-ing their awareness of current trends and issues and world developments.

GAWU establishes:

The GAWU Labour College

WORKERS STRUGGLE YIELDS HIGHER API PAYOUT

Continued from page one

Subsequently, workers were en-gaged in protests and demonstrations outside of the offices of the various estates. The Corporation took objec-tion to the workers’ protests and the Union’s press commentary on the dispute. Guysuco subsequently wrote the Union by letter dated January 14, 2010 stating inter alia:- “We have been informed by the management of the locations (Skeldon, Albion, Rose Hall and Blairmont) that yesterday and today, that they were informed by the local Representatives of your union that the strike action was taken in pro-test of the Corporation’s API offer.

Please be advised that the Corporation finds the decision of your union to pro-ceed on strike, to be most reprehen-sible, uncalled for and in total breach of the extant procedure, of which you are fully aware.” The letter went on to state: “… we hereby put your Union on notice that should it indulge in such harmful tactics, we may have no al-ternative but to withdraw our offer of four days’ pay as an API for year 2009.”

The Union did not allow itself to be cowed, but continued its representa-tion for its members. In a press state-ment, the Union informed the public that the threatening and insulting language of the Corporation toward GAWU and the sugar workers could have never been the sole decision of the Corporation. The Union contend-ed that the brazen threat by the Cor-poration suggested that the authori-ties have encouraged and perhaps directed the Corporation’s actions and pronouncements.

At the conclusion of the conciliatory proceedings on January 21, 2010, the Corporation reduced its offer to 3½ days’ pay. The lowering of its offer to 3½ days’ pay was in keeping with its objective to have the dispute ad-dressed at Compulsory Arbitration since the Union was not prepared to accept four (4) days’ pay. The Corpo-ration must have taken solace from the Government appointed Gobind Ganga Arbitration Tribunal which imposed a three (3) per cent wage in-crease last year (2009).

The Union pre-empted the Corpora-tion by requesting the Corporation

to have the matter referred to Volun-tary Arbitration in keeping with the extant Collective Labour Agreement. The Corporation indeed found itself in a quandary. It did not want Volun-tary Arbitration, in which case, the arbitrator/s could not be handpicked by the Minister responsible for La-bour. The Corporation’s Board then decided to engage the Union in find-ing a settlement. The Corporation’s Chairman, Dr N.K. Gopaul and some Board Members met with the Union on January 29, 2010. During the de-liberations, he was pressed and ad-mitted that the Corporation indeed made a profit of G$480m in 2009. This was revealing as the Corpora-tion claimed late in 2009 that it was in a poor financial state and would have suffered a loss for the second consecutive year and, therefore, was unable to pay a wage increase higher than three (3) per cent in 2009. The Chairman of the Board, at last, ad-justed the Corporation’s offer to 5½ days’ pay, undoubtedly, concerned about the bad press the Corporation was receiving and the workers’ pro-tests and condemnation.

A round of visits to various Estates by members of Guysuco’s Manage-ment and Board of Directors and Ministers of Government and meet-ing with selected groups of workers turned out to be most unpleasant to the “visitors.” Workers accused the officials of being insensitive to their low level of wages, the three (3) per cent increase, etc. Workers also charged them with sheer misman-agement of the industry resulting in the industry’s production far below its capacity over the past few years.

The Corporation, concerned about the expected industrial unrest at the commencement of the first crop in 2010, invited the Union to a meet-ing on February 15, 2010, once again and increased its offer to six (6) days’ pay. The Union’s fifty (50) member delegation considered the offer and decided to accept the six (6) days’ pay without prejudice to future nego-tiations and settlements. Certainly, had the workers not pursued a de-termined struggle, the Corporation would have succeed in paying four (4) days’ pay only thus robbing them of two (2) days’ pay.

COMBAT is a publication of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union (GAWU)59 High Street & Wight’s Lane, Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana, S.A.Tel: 592-227-2091/2; 225-5321 , 223-6523 Fax: 592-227-2093

Email: [email protected] Website: www.gawu.net

Consolidate, Transform, Sustain:

The 2010 Budget at a Glance: What’s in it for us?

The 2010 budgeted expenditure of $142.8B represents an increase of 10.7% over last year’s budget Budget . It is the continuation of ongoing work in the vari-ous sectors targeted at improving liv-ing standards and further enhancing the physical and institutional infrastructure required to promote growth, create wealth and generate employment.

Projections for 2010• Growth is projected at 4.4%• Non-sugar economy to grow by 3.4%• Sugar production is projected at

280,000 tonnes, an increase of 19.8%• Rice production projected at 343,373

tonnes• Forestry sector is projected to grow by

5%• Bauxite industry to recover with a

9.1% growth to 1,620,000 tonnes• Gold declarations to grow by 4% to

311,816 ounces, diamond production to grow by 4.2%

• Transport and communication sector to grow by 4.2%

• Distribution sector is projected to grow by 4.9%

• Inflation rate is targeted at 4%

Key Achievements in 2009• Increase in external reserves• Expansion and upgrade of physical in-

frastructure across the country• Sugar production increased by 3.3%• Rice production increase by 9.2% to

359,789 tonnes, highest production level in a decade

• The other crops sector grew by 5.8%

• Increase in loan ceiling by partici-pating Commercial Banks under the Low Income Hous-ing Programme from $2M to $8M

Sugar• Guysuco is pro-jected to invest $5.8 billion in 2010, for the replacement of field and factory as-sets and land devel-opment• A total of $4.1 billion is projected to be spent in 2010 towards the comple-tion of all aspects of the Skeldon project, including the agri-culture operations, the factory and the cogeneration plant.

Rice• Construction of the new seed facility

at No. 56 Village at a cost of $40 mil-lion

• A new seed dryer for the Burma re-search station at a cost of $16 million.

Education• A total of $20.8B has been allocated to

the education sector• A total of $800 million has been bud-

geted for our national school feeding programme, targeting over 47,000 students in nursery and primary lev-els.

• Over $940 million has been allocated for the continued expansion of tech-nical vocational training. These funds will be utilised in the construction, re-habilitation and maintenance of facili-ties and the procurement of tools and equipment for all technical institutes. Additionally, another 12 secondary schools are programmed to conduct the Secondary School Competency Programme.

• Over $880 million is allocated for teacher training and development, and will result in the continued up-grade of our teachers as well as the revision and production of the materi-als needed to promote a comprehen-sive training and development pro-gramme.

• A total of $2.4 billion is budgeted for the construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of dormitories, educa-tional facilities, nursery, primary and secondary schools nationwide.

Health• $13.4B has been allocated to the

health sector.• The sum of $1.4 billion has been bud-

geted for the construction, rehabilita-tion and maintenance of health facili-ties countrywide.

• Over $300 million will be spent on hu-man resource development in the sec-tor.

• $300 million is budgeted to be spent on further enhancement of antenatal and child health programmes with specific focus on the prevention of maternal and infant mortality and on child nutrition.

• $2.7 billion will be spent to procure drugs and medical supplies for the public health care system.

Housing• In 2010, $2.8 billion is allocated to the

housing sector.• Key targets for 2010 include the al-

location of 5,500 house lots and the processing and distribution of 3,750 land titles.

• $1.1 billion will be spent on improving road networks and water distribution in areas such as Anna Catherina, Plan-tation Schoonord and Hope Estate, which will benefit approximately 700 households.

• Community multipurpose buildings will be completed at Westminster, Cummings Lodge and Glasgow to serve as supporting facilities to com-plement the infrastructural works completed in these areas.

• $1.5 billion will be spent in 2010 to begin construction works in 6 new sites, namely Block 8 Tuschen, Section EE Non Pariel, Ordnance/Fortlands, No. 76 Village, Five Miles Bartica and Amelia’s Ward which will see the cre-ation of 1,504 new houselots.

Water

• $2.7B has been allocated to the Water sector in 2010.

• The completion of water treatment plants in Lima, Cotton Tree and Vergenoegen as well as the Central Ruimveldt and Sophia iron removal plants which will benefit over 128,000 persons.

• Phase two of the Corriverton water treatment plant will be completed at a total cost of $1.6 billion benefiting over 12,000 residents from No. 74 Vil-lage to Moleson Creek.

Vulnerable Groups and Other Targeted Interventions

• $20 million is budgeted to support the national foster care programme. This

programme is expected to place 100 children with foster parents, taking them out of institutional care.

• The completion of a new building at the Sophia Care Centre facility will accommodate another 70 vulnerable children and increase living space.

• The school uniform assistance pro-gramme will be expanded this year to provide every child with a uniform.

• Pension payments will be made to 44,000 elderly citizens in 2010 at the recently increased rate of $6,600 per month, at a cost of $3.5 billion.

• $325 million has been budgeted in 2010 to complete the residential cen-tre for rehabilitation and reintegra-tion to accommodate 300 homeless persons.

Roads and Bridges

• A total of $7.6 billion for roads and bridges, of which $5.2 billion will be spent on roads and $2.4 billion on bridges

• $1 billion has been budgeted for the construction of approximately 35 ki-lometres of all weather roads in the Black Bush Polder area, which houses some 425 farmers and 17,000 acres of land under cultivation.

• In order to improve access to over 1,500 acres of agricultural land, major improvement will commence on the East and West Canje roads.

Drainage and Irrigation $6.1 billion to further improve our coun-try’s drainage and irrigation structures. • $800 million is allocated to commence

construction of the Hope outfall chan-nel.

• $852 million is allocated for the acqui-sition and installation of pumps, exca-vators and pipes in Regions 2 to 6.

• $3.9 billion is allocated for the con-struction, rehabilitation and mainte-nance of drainage structures including sluices, kokers, outfall channels, revet-ments and groynes.

Sea and River Defence

• $3.1 billion has been budgeted for continued reconstruction, rehabilita-tion, restoration and maintenance of sea defence structures across Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10

• $124 million is budgeted for the com-mencement of a mangrove manage-ment project for sustainable coastal zone protection. This $1.2 billion three-year project includes institu-tional strengthening at NARI, im-proved monitoring and rehabilitation of mangrove fields, training, and pub-lic awareness.