Latest update April 4th, 2025 5:09 PM
Latest News
President reads ‘riot act’ to GuySuCo management
…says industry under threat
President Jagdeo has stressed that the government does not intend to subsidize loss-making entities at the expense of education and health in the country.
He explained that he had cause to read the ‘riot act’ to the management of Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) since, according to him, he is very upset about the production level of the company.
“In the budget it was stated that 315,000 tonnes would have been produced at the end of the year but the company has reduced that figure twice already…the industry is under threat,” the President stated emphatically. The Head of State also noted that a decision to close the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s La Bonne Intention (LBI) sugar estate will be based on the survival of the industry. 
He said that no firm decision has been taken on the closure of the estate.
The President made the announcement while responding to a question raised by a sugar worker about the facility’s intended closure. He had just concluded a lecture on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, Kingston.
Jagdeo said that it is logical that if a company is losing revenue while the cost of input is getting higher, that company would seek to close, being a loss-making entity.
The President’s comments come even as an external review of GuySuCo’s production and finances is about to commence.
Like the President, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, yesterday told Kaieteur News that there is concern about the downward revision in the production at GuySuCo.
We have been pushing GuySuCo to meet the projected number but they have highlighted difficulties, including industrial actions, that have severely affected their ability to produce but at the same time we are about to advertise for a firm to conduct a production review of GuySuCo.
“We have just today (yesterday) cleared the terms of reference for a review whereby we will be looking at all elements that have been hampering production and what we need to do in correcting it.”
The Minister added that this will be done to ensure that when targets are set the constraints can be successfully addressed.
He said that the sugar company has been relating that weather conditions and industrial relations matters have been affecting their ability to meet targets.
“We want to do a comprehensive review of its operations and production system with a view of going forward. Whilst the management and the board have been presenting various explanations, at the same time we want to ensure when we are ‘diagnosing’ the situation correctly.”
Meanwhile, the Minister said that he hopes that there is an early resolution of the negotiations.
“There is a lot at stake; we have our market commitments in Europe…if we are not able to get our quota into Europe by the end of September, we will be losing up to $100 US per tonne…already we have some good weather and we are not sure how long this will last in terms of harvesting…so we want maximum activities taking place in the industry,” Minister Persaud said.
However, yesterday, Chief Labour Officer Mohamed Akeel again met with representatives of the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union, as conciliation continues in the wages dispute between the two entities.
Kaieteur News was told that there was no progress in the negotiations yesterday.
GuySuCo is contractually obligated to supply its main European customer with 55,000 tonnes of sugar by September 5.
Presently, the corporation has shipped 16,400 tonnes.
This year, GuySuCo stands to lose close to $1.2B in revenue, due to the price cut.
(Tusika Martin)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The reciprocal tariffs
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has once again proven his talent for making the indefensible... more
The U.S. “Joining” the Commonwealth: an unreasonable expectation
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- Recent media stories have suggested that King Charles III could “invite” the United... more
Weekend Cartoon
