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Speaker:The Honourable Basdeo Panday, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Date: December 11, 1999
Venue: Centre Point Mall, Chaguanas
Occasion: The annual Awards Ceremony of Caroni (1975) Limited
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is always a great pleasure and privilege to come home to Caroni and spend some time with you. Each year I look forward to this event because it gives me a chance to meet so many of you who shared our struggle for survival from the earliest years.
But each year as I come to Caroni, I am reminded of the reality that faces us, and my joy is mixed with apprehension, but also hope.
It is a reality that says unless this company becomes financially independent, it will not continue to exist.
I wish to reiterate a point I made to you last year, that no industry that consistently runs at a loss can expect to exist forever.
You will recall that I told you "If the sugar industry cannot survive no matter what we do, then we must start thinking of alternatives. The time may come when Caroni is no longer synonymous with sugar."
And I warned you that "if Caroni does not succeed in its transformation exercise it will surely die by suicide."
Only three weeks ago the Leader of the Opposition said at his Party's Convention that if he gets back to power "not a cent for Caroni." He is ready to write your epitaph.
It is to your credit that you have demonstrated a resilience, a will to survive and a determination to succeed that is characteristic of the slaves and indentured labourers who created and nurtured this industry.
I am happy that in your cultural presentations this evening you have traced our history of struggle and our resolve to survive through unity.
This is a strong reminder to all of us about the obligation we have and the task ahead.
Our ancestors entrusted us with a responsibility to carry the torch of survival into the new millennium, to ensure that this industry which they built will not perish.
Their tears, their blood and sweat have consecrated and fertilised the land from which this nation has earned so much of its wealth.
The men and women who run this country in every facet of life - myself included - are the children of those pioneers, people who were deprived of their freedom and comforts to enrich colonial empires.
Their struggles created the foundation of the just nation we have today, one based on freedom, equality and opportunity.
We are privileged to be their beneficiaries.
We cannot fail them; we must not fail them.
That is why your board and management have embarked on a new transformation plan destined to achieve financial independence by December 2002.
You would be justified in asking why this new plan will succeed when so many others have failed.
The reason is that all previous proposals for the rationalisation of Caroni Ltd. were based on the premise that there will a reduction in the labour force.
Not unnaturally, the workers and the unions resisted such a plan. And without the co-operation of the workers an their representatives no plan for the transformation of Caroni can succeed.
The new plan envisages an increase in the labour force. There is no plan to privatise Caroni or sell it to anybody. The new plan speaks of private sector participation.
The idea is to identify certain areas of activity of Caroni, for example rice, citrus, rum, and divest its assets into a subsidiary of Caroni (1975) Ltd, the Holding Company.
We can then invite the private sector to participate in a joint venture with the subsidiary, on condition that production and, consequently, labour is expanded.
In that way, everybody benefits in the new dispensation of a modernised Caroni (1975) Ltd.
Caroni must change because the world has changed.
The rules for industry in the 21st century will be dictated by globalization and technology.
The Internet has created a revolution that is unprecedented in the history of human civilization.
Information has become the new wealth generating resource that is dominating the new world business order.
It knows no boundaries, respects no physical borders and creates its own physical space.
This means that governments, private companies and state enterprises like yours must develop the expertise to compete in this new environment.
The challenge for you in the new century is to adapt your organizational culture not just to survive, but to excel and create your own future according to your vision.
What I am saying to you is that your future depends on your ability to accept change and to acknowledge that in the 21st century it is not going to be business as usual.
Your company has already instituted some of this type of change.
Your Chief Executive Officer has talked about the major successes in research and development, fiscal planning and investments in modern technology.
This is the most positive sign that I have seen in your journey of transformation.
You have now gone beyond the first mile, but I want to caution you that no journey is without its setbacks, some of which we create ourselves.
You have to guard against complacency and you have to continue to be imaginative and innovative.
I have told you before and I will say it again, being more productive does not mean working harder or longer; it means working smarter. It also means working together.
Today's successful workplaces are no longer based on a hierarchical system where managers are aloof and removed from those whom they manage.
It is a collaborate effort based on leadership and teamwork.
And Caroni is going to be one example of how such a structure can work. The system of subsidiaries is most appropriate since your operations are as diverse as the workforce.
You cannot have an industry unless someone far removed from the boardroom harvests your cane.
That cane cutter who will probably never meet your managers is one of the most vital links in your chain of production.
That is why today is so important to Caroni's future.
This event is a demonstration of your company's commitment to those who have served at every level for 35 years, a celebration of performance and excellence and an endorsement of the value your company places on its brothers and sisters in the cane farming community.
Together all of you have built this company, together you will reinvent it and cast away the begging bowl.
Caroni (1975) Ltd. is your company and nobody is going to take it away from you. That I will assure. Caroni is not for sale.
But, it takes more than a leader - no matter how committed, how smart - to make an organisation successful.
The leader cannot do it alone and your CEO cannot do it alone.
He will provide the leadership as he is already doing.
You will create the success that Caroni will become.
To do it, you have to shed your outdated methods and move into the new world.
Your focus must constantly be on management excellence.
Private sector participation will ensure that excellence.
Your first priority must always be to Caroni.
The Caroni of the future will not resemble the one we have known for so long.
You have to throw away the begging bowl and create opportunities that will make you independent and profitable.
If the private sector can do it, then you can do it. Together, we can do it.
The first step is to believe that you can. And you have already taken that first step. Accept change. It is inevitable. Indeed, the only constant is change itself.
There are going to be changes. The Minister of Agriculture and I have talked about a new structure for Caroni.
And your Chief Executive Officer has asked for your commitment to ensure that all the corporate goals set for 2000, especially those relating to the crop, are met.
I want to implore you to make that commitment now because if you fail, the journey could get turbulent and your story could have a different ending.
The reason why it is so important to reach your corporate goals is because this will demonstrate that you have a plan that is working.
It will add to your credibility especially in the private financial sector which is so important to your new Caroni.
Reaching those short-term goals is also important for another reason.
There are some of you who may not want to go along with the new Caroni. In that case provision must be made for such workers.
Part of your corporate re-engineering will involve a voluntary separation plan which will require money - money to guarantee that all Caroni's obligations to each employee are met.
I want you to know that my government will not agree to any separation plan unless your company gives an unequivocal commitment that you will get all the benefits due to you.
And that is why your 2000 crop is so important.
Everything is in place for success, a management team that is dynamic and responsible, employees and cane farmers who feel empowered, and labour representatives who support your transformation initiatives.
You have the support of labour because Caroni Limited has a clear position that acknowledges that its must be shaped through consultation with all its stakeholders.
It cannot be any other way.
The new Caroni will see the emergence of a new type of employee.
Contrary to what some of your detractors will have you believe, this company is not for sale and there are no plans to arbitrarily reduce its labour force.
But it must rationalize its workforce in keeping with its new direction. I have told you about a Voluntary Separation Plan that will offer many of you an opportunity to receive all your benefits and explore new opportunities, if you so desire.
Many others who remain will find that their options are limited only by how far they wish to go to acquire new skills.
The holding company and its subsidiaries as independent business units will create a more efficient management structure with greater accountability.
And rather than create unemployment, Caroni will generate a need for that new type of workforce that will be in tune with the technology of the 21st century.
This will mean Caroni will have to devote attention to training and retraining.
While some types of jobs will disappear, many new ones will emerge out of the new Caroni. Jobs which your children will occupy.
You have access to institutions such as the National Training Agency and National Energy Skills Centre and others. They have the resources to help you equip your personnel to fit into the new work environment.
Change is something that many people find uncomfortable, but I want to tell you as your friend that you can no longer resist change.
You know more than anybody else how many attempts have been made to turn around the fortunes of this company.
And you must be saying why it is going to be different this time.
The difference my friends is that this time failure is not an option.
You must succeed in this transformation exercise.
Your have very little time and very few options.
The next few months are your most critical.
They will determine whether your plan is working, whether you will succeed.
You hold the future in your hands. And I have every reason to believe you will succeed.
Nelson Mandela, one of the great role models of the 20th century once said "the greatest glory in life lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall".
How many times you have fallen?
How often others have tried to take away your pride and trample your dignity?
But you keep rising again. Now is the time to ensure that you will never fall again.
Your company's history is dotted with so many examples of negativity.
Over the years you have been chastised for nurturing a culture of corruption, of waste and mismanagement.
You have been considered a burden in our society, beggars and pariahs who keep asking for more and more and giving back less and less.
Your management is determined that this will end.
You will rise to the challenge and create a new Caroni that will be the pride of this nation.
My brothers and sisters, members of the Caroni family we have struggled too hard for too many years together to keep our company alive.
A quarter million people - nearly one fifth of the national population - depend on you in one way or another for their economic welfare.
That is why you cannot fail.
I will always be here for you - if not in body, then in spirit.
I know many of you have asked me to spend more time with you. And I would like nothing better than to meet all of you, listen to your individual concerns as I have done before.
But you have entrusted me with another responsibility that is equally important, one that demands my continuous attention to matters of state and to the concerns of others like you in every part of this country.
You might not see me as often of you once did, but I want to assure you that I love you no less.
That is why coming here today to spend time with you, to celebrate your achievements and honour your service is so important to me. May I congratulate each and every one of you.
And let me take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year as you enter the New Millennium.
Thank you. And may God bless you all.