New board for GuySuCo; reversal of D&I charges

Aug 16, 2020 News

– Agri Minister tells West Berbice

By Malisa Playter Harry

Minister Mustapha addressing farmers and sugar workers at Blairmont.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, during a visit to several areas in Region 5 (West Coast Berbice) yesterday, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the reopening of the four closed sugar estates.
The closure of the estates- Skeldon, Rose Hall, Enmore and Wales, had displaced over 7,000 workers with the fallouts crippling businesses.
The closure of Rose Hall and the Skeldon in Berbice say former workers complaining bitterly yesterday of the untold hardships.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic had promised in their manifesto to reopen the sugar estates that were closed.
That promise was reiterated yesterday during the outreach by the Minister. He also announced that management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) will undergo extensive reshuffling with a new board of directors to be installed shortly.
“Shortly, we will have a new board of directors at GUYSUCO…We are looking to improve management, we know for a fact that the management of GuySuCo had lots of criticism and we want to improve that partnership between workers and management,” the Minister said.
He further stated that while the plan is to re-open the estates, the government and by extension, the Ministry of Agriculture will be looking to also diversify activities within GuySuCo as a medium to improve its profitability.
He added that the goal is to ensure that “value added products” are produced. He pointed to the Co-Generation Plant at Skeldon and underlined that the CO-GEN could have been more beneficial if power was sold to the national grid.
“We have to be at that break-even point…because the cost of production is more than sale but we are committed to improving sugar…it will be one of the main foreign exchange earners for us and we are looking to make changes. We will address all issues,” he assured.
He believes that sugar can be viable again and with the new improvements and new management, the sugar industry is expected to kick off on high gear.
While speaking to a few sugar workers, farmers at Blairmont, Mustapha underscored that while the estate at Blairmont was not closed, it was still affected “because there are critical needs for improvements in the field, there need to be improvements in crop husbandry and workers’ conditions.” The Minister stressed that, “Over the past five years, sugar declined rapidly and although profits were not achieved under the then PPP/C government, sugar workers still enjoyed a small increase, we used to still put money in the sugar industry because sugar is critical to our country not only to employ people but to also bring in foreign exchange.”
He also mentioned that the Ministry will be embarking on a conditional survey to assess the current state of the closed estates…it is expected to take place shortly.
Meanwhile, the Minister touching on rice, stated that they are looking for new markets to expand exports and at the same time is focusing on improving the current ones.
He mentioned that while “we have been exporting paddy to Panama and they owe GRDB and millers over $1B, we have to collect that.”
Among the other commitments made by the Minister were the reversal of the land rental and drainage and irrigations charges and the removal of VAT on agriculture machinery and pesticides.

Additionally, Minister Mustapha disclosed that a technical committee from the Ministry together with the MMA and NDIA will work along with the farmers in the region to ensure that critical needs are addressed.
He added that the committee will work with the RDC and farmers organisations because “officers will not decide by themselves where these machinery will be going… we want a joint effort…we will try to help farmers as much as possible.”
Areas visited by the team include offices of the GRDB, NDIA, Region 5 Democratic Council, Foulis, Blairmont, Cotton Tree and Bush Lot.
Additionally, it was announced that a hotline has been established for farmers to communicate with agriculture officers about issues affecting them.
Persons can call or send a message to 694-6978 if they have concerns or issues that are agricultural-related.

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