Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:37 AM
GuySuCo will not meet its sugar target this year – Dr Ramsammy
By Leon Suseran
Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, has stated that the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s drive to produce 250,000 tonnes of sugar “will not happen” this year. He was speaking at the sugar company’s annual Honours’ Roll Function at the Blairmont Community Centre Ground on Saturday. And when he made that statement, there was a lot of grumbling from the workers seated in the stands and pavilions.
Ramsammy even went further and announced more bad news; that the corporation will not even be able to produce 238,000 tonnes of sugar. “And it should be clear to everyone that the target we set of 238,000 tonnes seems to be one that we will not be able to attain.”
Some of the sugar workers on Saturday.
“These are difficult times, indeed, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t continue to try. And for those on the outside, I want to let them know, that we will continue to work to overcome the difficulties. We will try our best this year, but we will begin to ensure that in the not- so- distant future, that GuySuCo will not only recover, but that it will attain heights that we have never been to before.”
GuySuCo had set a production target of 240,000 tonnes of sugar for this year. Of that total 190,000 was supposed to go to the European Market. The company produced a dismal 48,000 tonnes of sugar during the first crop, far below its intended 70,000-tonne target.
President Donald Ramotar recently labeled the sugar industry as one being in “crisis.”
Dr Ramsammy’s address to the Champion workers and to the other workers and their families, was one filled with sad overtones of an industry that has been ailing for years and underperforming in the Guyanese economy.
However, Ramsammy painted an optimistic picture of one where he sees the sugar industry recovering and becoming stronger than before.
He stated that GuySuCo will continue to be a pillar on which Guyana is built. “And I ask all of us…as politicians, whichever side we belong, for us to work in solidarity and unity, because GuySuCo is more than an industry…it is the lifeblood of this country and too important to fail!”
Ramsammy wished to relay a special message: “That we do quarrel in this industry…as workers and management. We have many differences …and I have tried to bring harmony between management and workers and I am sure that I will have to continue to do this in the future, but our quarrels should not mean to anyone as if we are divided.”
No one on the outside, he stated, should believe that “when we have our differences, that it is time to open more wounds and to divide us.”
He added that the difficulties at Skeldon, “we will strive to put behind us.” “You and I must believe in this industry,” he urged the gathering.
He said that he knows that there are those among us who wonder whether the government has the capacity to overcome the difficulties facing sugar, “but I believe strongly—deep down in my heart—that we, the GuySuCo family, do have the capacity. We must have the will and find it deep in us…and the desire to work closer together with greater understanding.”
He appealed to the management of the company to be more sensitive. “That might seem unfair because I do know that every manager has one thing at heart: the success of our industry.”
Minister Ramsammy stated that the workers are being honoured this year in “even more difficult times.” “I also come at a time when there are many among us, in our country, that seem to be happy in our difficulties. Those difficulties seem to provide them an opportunity to think that we [GuySuCo] are at our death bed!”
The Minister then praised the “intangible and concrete support” that GuySuCo has provided to Guyana over the years.
The future of GuySuCo, he seemed sure, is “still guaranteed” and a sugar industry still in the leadership role in the development in Guyana. “Even in difficult times, GuySuCo continues to contribute not only to the economic development but also to the social development of our country, whether providing scholarships and support for our children for further education; building recreational facilities; and supporting the development of sports in our country; whether it’s in provision of vocational training; contributing to plans of our community needs.”
The company contributed to the establishment of a crematorium recently in Blairmont.
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