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GuySuCo expects profits by 2011

Nov 18, 2009 News

– says 4M tonnes of cane by 2013 not unrealistic

The sugar industry is expected to continue making losses into the next year, but a turnaround plan projects that by 2011, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will be turning a profit.
Speaking with reporters recently on the state of the industry, Chief Executive Officer, Errol Hanoman, was also confident that a target of four million tonnes of cane by 2013/2014 is not unrealistic.
Currently, the corporation is aggressively pushing for the several areas to be placed under more cane cultivation. This includes 800 more hectares in the Blairmont, Berbice area; 1500 hectares in East Demerara and 840 hectares in the Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara.
This year, because of ploughing problems, almost 37% of cane cultivation has returned poor yields, resulting in a lowly 2.6 million tonnes of cane for this year.
With the turnaround plan, which includes several initiatives including more land for cane, Hanoman said that coming years will be very busy.
If all goes well, by 2011, GuySuCo will turn the corner, he opined, and then there “is no turning back.”
The executive is convinced that GuySuCo remains a viable industry that will require all hands on deck to make it successful.
The industry is currently facing a crisis with wage negotiations ordered to compulsory arbitration by the government.
The Guyana Agriculture and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) is demanding a 10% wage increase for its almost 15,000 workers, down from 15% it had originally asked for earlier this year.
However, GuySuCo says that it is facing severe financial problems.
An Arbitration Tribunal is expected to decide on what percentage, if any, workers will get by December 12.
On Saturday, at La Bonne Intention (LBI) estate, GAWU and GuySuCo appeared before the Tribunal to make their cases.
The wages talks between GAWU and GuySuCo was declared deadlocked late last month and government stepped in and imposed compulsory arbitration.
In a statement, Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir said that he was forced to order the move “after conciliation proceedings between the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union was declared deadlocked on October 29, 2009 by the Chief Labour Officer”.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that the sugar company is facing losses of almost $4B by the end of the year.
The good news is that the industry has a plan to reverse its fortunes and if aggressively pursued will make GuySuCo very profitable.
Stressing that workers play an integral role of pulling GuySuCo out of the woods, President Jagdeo has said that despite the precarious financial predicament facing the industry, the Corporation has made a 3% offer to workers that could cost almost $500M. Government has shown strong commitment to the industry despite the economic turmoil in the world. (Leonard Gildarie)

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