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Sugar bags $6B more in budget
Kaieteur News – A whopping $6B of the total 2024 budget has been set aside for the struggling sugar industry, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh announced on Monday.
Senior Minister with the Office of the President Responsible for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh
The budget was read under the theme ‘Stay the Course, build prosperity for all’. Singh said in his speech that, “In 2024, Government will contribute $6 billion to GuySuCo to improve further production and operational efficiency of the sugar industry.”
Minister Ashni informed the National Assembly that, the sector is estimated to have grown by 28 percent in 2023. The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) produced 60,204 tonnes in 2023, compared with 47,049 tonnes in 2022. This expansion is as a result of improved yields and weather conditions, particularly in the first half of last year, Singh said. Growth in the sector was also supported by the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate, which produced 1,031 tonnes in the second crop of 2023.
Last year the corporation had expanded its storage capacity to hold 3,500 tonnes at the Blairmont Packaging Plant which is ISO certified. This was done in anticipation of the beginning of new lines of packaged sugar, inclusive of sugar sticks which are expected to target the premium markets.
Also, works commenced on the construction of the new Albion Packaging Plant. Further, to support accelerated mechanisation of cultivation and harvesting, $997 million has been invested in the procurement of equipment which augments the growing share of private sector involvement in this activity, the minister explained.
Stating that the sugar growing sub subsector is, “projected to accelerate its recovery with strong growth of 66.1 percent in 2024, aided by GuySuCo’s continued focus on mechanization and conversion efforts, as well as promoting value-added production, Singh noted that the former is expected to enhance production and productivity, while the latter is expected to be facilitated by the forthcoming Albion and Blairmont packaging plants, construction having commenced in 2023.
“Over 2024 and 2025, the sector is expected to benefit from the conversion of over 5,000 hectares of land for mechanical harvesting and loading. Given these interventions, the sector is expected to produce 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar in 2024,” the minister said.
- 6B, Dr. Ashni Singh, Estate, GUYSUCO, sector, Senior Minister with the Office of the President Responsible for Finance, sugar
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