Latest update April 3rd, 2025 7:45 PM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

Skeldon factory showing an upward trend

May 18, 2011 News


– Jagdeo

In spite of his telling sugar workers yesterday that operations at the Skeldon Sugar Factory continue to be problematic, President Bharrat Jagdeo said he no longer intends to take a hands-on approach to management of it because the state-of-the-art facility is making a turnaround.
The President told this newspaper that the performance of the factory is showing an upward trend, and has begun giving value for the US$200 million invested in the plant. Prior to his statement yesterday, the President had undertaken to personally intervene in the affairs of the problem-plagued factory.
“I am very pleased that we have managed to get the factory performing better now, even without my hands-on intervention,” Jagdeo said.
On the issue of the factory producing returns on the money invested he asserted, “We are already getting value for money. The two hundred million is not just for the factory, it is for the factory and a whole heap of [related] stuff.”
This statement came immediately after the president addressed sugar workers of the now closed Diamond Sugar Factory when he conceded that operations at the Skeldon plant continue to pose challenges.
“We’ve had trouble with [the] Skeldon Factory. We have to fix it,” the President said.
Also speaking to sugar workers yesterday at the Diamond Secondary School was President of the Guyana Agricultural Workers & General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, who referred to production problems throughout the sugar industry and singled out the Skeldon Factory as the one most affected.
“GuySuCo has been in trouble for the past years and is still in trouble,” the union leader said, adding that following years of low production, the Skeldon Factory is on course to harvest only 40 per cent of its available crop this season.
Completed in 2008 and hailed as a state-of-the-art cane sugar factory for which construction was supported with a combination of self-generated funds and loans from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Guyana, the plant has been beset with production-related problems.
In previous reports, it was noted that among the problems existing at the factory was a low output ratio of cane to sugar. Upon completion of the factory, the authorities passed some 50,000 tonnes of cane through the new mill, but the amount of sugar produced was a mere 400 tonnes.
A normal factory is expected to convert cane to sugar at a ratio of ten tonnes of cane to a tonne of sugar. A facility such as the one at Skeldon would have an even better ratio of production.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 31st, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

 

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rotary Club of New Amsterdam Childhood Obesity Prevention Inter Secondary School Tapeball Cricket competition continues

Rotary Club of New Amsterdam Childhood Obesity Prevention Inter...

Apr 03, 2025

Kaieteur Sports- When the competition continued there were action at the Rose Hall Community Centre in East Canje and the Berbice High School Grounds. There were wins for Berbice Educational...
Read More
Demerara beat Berbice by 6 wickets after Apple half-century blitz

Demerara beat Berbice by 6 wickets after Apple...

Apr 03, 2025

DCB Under19 Inter-Association Cricket Tournament 2025 begins

DCB Under19 Inter-Association Cricket Tournament...

Apr 03, 2025

Tagore Memorial Secondary School benefits from cricket gear, courtesy of the Bheer family

Tagore Memorial Secondary School benefits from...

Apr 03, 2025

Hurricanes knock Eagles off course despite Anderson gritty 77*

Hurricanes knock Eagles off course despite...

Apr 03, 2025

Peter’s Hall, Herstelling ‘A’ advance to EBDCA Division II 40-Over semis

Peter’s Hall, Herstelling ‘A’ advance to...

Apr 03, 2025

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]