Commissioners divided over shutting down sugar estates - report

Commissioners divided over shutting down sugar estates – report

Jan 03, 2016 News

The report coming out of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) set up to examine the sugar industry has indicated that the views of the Commissioners differ as it relates to the continued existence of certain estates.
The report, presented last Wednesday to the National Assembly, says that the possibility of closure of some estates received much discussion and even debate.
The deliberations were based on the comparative low levels of production and consistent loss positions of certain estates.
In the final analysis, two Commissioners supported closure, while the remaining eight opposed such a recommendation.
According to the report, Commissioners took into consideration that the closure of estates, especially in Demerara, had been recommended and considered in previous studies, but thought it not prudent to make such a recommendation at this time.
Commissioners also took into account the current state of the economy which lacks vibrancy, with awareness of the problems in the rice industry, the low market price of gold and the level of unemployment.
The report indicated that cane farmers from Wales Estate and the No.Two Canal areas explained to the Commissioners that they had invested millions of dollars in the acquisition of agricultural machinery and also invested millions of dollars in the growing of sugar cane on the encouragement by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
The expectation of those farmers is the harvesting of their crop over at least a three-year period after planting and having access to sugar factories for the sale of their product. Based on these considerations, it seemed inappropriate to advocate the closure at this time of any sugar estate.
“That subject is likely to surface in the future, but it will necessitate forward planning and discussing with farmers such a plan with adequate notice to phase out their operations.”
The Commissioners have found that despite the losses, the effect of closing any estate without planning and adequate notice to cane farmers has serious consequences not only for the employees and private farmers but for the communities as well.

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Commissioners divided over shutting down sugar estates – report

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Commissioners divided over shutting down sugar estates – report

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