Latest update February 6th, 2025 7:27 AM
GuySuCo’s Chairman tipped to be next CEO
Government has reportedly tipped the current Chairman of the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Dr. Rajendra Singh, from New Jersey, US, was appointed to the Board last year as the new Chairman after Dr. Nanda Gopaul exited to take up the post of Minister of Labour.
Paul Bhim
Earlier this year, with GuySuCo continuing to face flak over its declining performance, Government announced plans for a major shakeup of the industry which it says cannot fail as too much is at stake.
Sources close to the administration have now said that Dr. Singh is likely to take the GuySuCo reins from CEO Paul Bhim within the coming months. A number of meetings have already been held between top government officials and GuySuCo on the issue.
It is likely that Dr. Singh’s appointment could be confirmed in a matter of months, official sources told this newspaper yesterday.
Bhim, a long serving employee who worked his way up, was appointed to the CEO post after Errol Hanoman, was let go in 2010.
Bhim is likely to be Dr. Singh’s deputy. Currently, the Deputy CEO position is held by Rajaindra Singh, a former Chairman of the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Almost four years after being commissioned, GuySuCo’s flagship Skeldon Factory, has failed to take off with a number of technical problems cropping up.
The modernization project, to the tune of US$200M, was supposed to take 2012 national production levels to around 400,000 tonnes of sugar. Last year, the industry fell to 218,069 tonnes- its lowest in 20 years.
Industry experts have blamed the low production on poor yields, weather, industrial action, worker migration to other sectors and inefficiency.
Parliamentarians have said that factories stood idle around 50 percent of the time during crops. Between 2006 and 2012, Guyana collected compensation payments from the EU of $24.7B, geared to prepare Guyana for the ending of sugar quota to Europe. There have been criticisms that all the monies did not go to the industry.
This year, to fix Skeldon Factory, Government announced the hiring of Bosch Engineering, a South African company to carry our remedial works. A reported US$8M ($1.6B) was said to be budgeted for the works.
Dr. Rajendra Singh
At Skeldon, production last year was 33,309 tonnes of sugar, not the 100,000 tons projected. This year’s first crop, across the country, was described as one of the worst in recent years.
The issue over the current Chairman has also been one that has been heavily debated after it was learnt that GuySuCo was paying his airfares between the United States and Guyana twice monthly. Government insisted that Singh was being brought in on economy class.
His hotel accommodation and other expenses are also met by GuySuCo.
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