Sugar price skyrockets in Berbice

Jun 10, 2008 News

…investigation ongoing into smuggling to Suriname and Trinidad
The price of sugar has touched the $100 per pound mark in Berbice, and shopkeepers are claiming that Guysuco has increased the cost for the commodity.
However, on Sunday, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud told residents in Berbice that they should not pay any increase for the commodity, since the sugar company did not raise the price.
But even as the minister sought to calm the concerns of residents, he himself admitted that investigations are ongoing into the smuggling of sugar to Suriname and Trinidad.
“People are smuggling the sugar, and what we have to do is monitor the quota of the local people, especially in Berbice, because we received reports that they are smuggling the sugar,” Persaud said during a meeting with farmers at Rose Hall village on Sunday.
He said that Guysuco was seeking an increase of one cent a pound for sugar, but that he denied the company.
“I told them that we need to ensure that we preserve the price, but the problem we face is that we got report, and we are investigating it, that the sugar that is supposed to be in the local market is in Suriname, and that is why they are creating some sort of problem.”
The minister, however, assured that there will be sufficient sugar on the local market.
The minister said that there is strict management of the quota system.
“We have also advertised the price at which people should sell sugar, and any distributor that sells above that, we will take away the arrangement that the retailer may have with Guysuco,” Minister Persaud said.
The minister added that there is no shortage, but a check is being made to determine if distributors are hoarding the commodity.
“They work the numbers and they know it…what the local consumers pay for sugar and the price that it can be sold for are very different, so there is an incentive to smuggle it out, but we have to prevent that,” Minister Persaud added.
When asked about a mechanism that can be put in place to check on the supply of sugar in the county, Persaud said that he will ask the New Guyana Marketing Corporation to use their distribution systems.
He said that he believes there may be a problem of distribution and not supply, stating that there is the quantum but it may not be evenly distributed in the various sectors.
“If we are able to determine which areas in Berbice have a distribution problem with the sugar, then I can let New GMC come and do the truck system in the different areas,” he added.
He said that people should not pay an increase, because Guysuco is absorbing that increased cost for production for the local consumers. (Tusika Martin)

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