How not to do a deal: The Infinity Bio-Energy boondoggle

The failure to clinch the Infinity Bio-Energy sugar deal is a source of great disappointment for the government, but a tremendous relief for the country. The government now has a good opportunity to go back to the drawing board and secure a deal which is in the best interest of the country. Not being privy to the negotiations, one is not able to speak with great authority on this deal. This limitation notwithstanding, from what has been revealed to the country, my first reaction, to put it plainly, was that there was more that the country could get from this prized asset and that Infinity Bio-Energy was getting the deal of a lifetime. I also had misgivings about the seemingly indecent rush on the part of the government to divest the industry to Infinity Bio. What careful consideration was given to other bidders for the industry, especially Jamaicans who had an interest to invest in it?

I did not get the impression that Jamaica exercised enough scepticism and due diligence about Infinity Bio in negotiating the deal. The government seemed to have been overawed by what the company was presenting as their ability to purchase and run the industry. Even when it became obvious that the potential buyers could not find the money to conclude the deal, the government seemed hogtied in giving them more time to come up with the money until the whole thing blew up in their faces on January 31, 2009.

The way in which the deal was conducted and its tragic conclusion on January 31 is a textbook example of how not to do a deal. That it has fallen through might be a good thing for Jamaica. The government is now given a second chance to get it right for the people of Jamaica. To get it right there is the need for transparency in conducting every aspect of the deal. The people do not expect that every detail of a deal should be outlined to them. The reason that we elect political representatives is to empower people to act on our behalf, to make decisions which an entire country collectively cannot do.

In doing so, our representatives have to understand that they are representing the best interests of the people of Jamaica and not their own personal ambitions which often issue into self-aggrandisement. A grandiose preoccupation with self, with a view to ensuring that a deal has one's imprimatur is simply not on. At some point this is bound to come into a collision course with the interests of those that should be given the highest priority. I cannot understand why politicians are so reluctant to take people into their confidence and talk to them. In political campaigns, they will tell them of the great things they will do on their behalf; that they will be open and transparent and hide nothing. Yet, when they get into office, they grow strangely quiet and back-door deals are entered into without any sunshine being allowed into the room. You hear of these deals only when they go sour or when the contractor general turns his searchlight on them. In the annals of bad deal-making, the divestment of our Heathrow Airport slots to Virgin Atlantic must surely go down as one of the saddest events of deal-making undertaken by any government in the history of this country. Yet I am sure the former minister who was at the epicentre of this deal has no apologies for the people of Jamaica for this egregious "mistake".

Talk to the people. You have nothing to lose if you take them into your confidence. It will at least demonstrate that you have a modicum of respect for them and that you are not the repository of all intelligence which no one certainly is.

In addition to transparency, every effort must be made at collaboration with the chief players in the industry. Apart from its slave past, the historical pedigree of sugar as an important contributor to the economy of Jamaica is well established. It is one that provides a livelihood for many, a livelihood that is often fiercely defended by the trade unions which represent sugar workers. The lot of sugar workers has been vastly improved as a result of this vigorous representation.

Of equal importance are the Jamaica Sugar Cane Growers Association (JSCGA) and the Sugar Company of Jamaica. It is true that they were involved at some level in the negotiations, but one gets the distinct impression that their presence at the table was not given the prominence that was deserved. It appears that once the government zeroed in on Infinity Bio all other considerations were removed from the table, even though the JSCGA was willing to come to the rescue of the industry. Politicians come to these deals with a notion of how much political capital can be gained. Those whose bread and butter are determined by the survival of the industry come to it from the standpoint of survival. They do not have time for political games.

In this second chance that it has been given, it would behove the government to look more keenly, patiently and diligently at the Jamaican stakeholders with a view to divesting the industry to local entities. Give them the same concessionary treatment, such as tax breaks and duty concessions, as were being offered to the Brazilians. The Jamaica Broilers Group has amply demonstrated Jamaican competence in ethanol production. The Brazilians do not have a proprietary right on this. Whatever decision is made, one hopes that in the next dispensation the interests of the Jamaican people will be fully considered and that anything contrary to this interest will be discarded. After all, it is the people's patrimony that is at stake.