Agri. Minister to explain why GUYSUCO been missing targets-Jagdeo

Nov 09, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News- Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha has been instructed by President Irfaan Ali to compile a report and provide a credible explanation as to why the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) has been unable to meet set targets. This was disclosed by Vice President (VP)Bharrat Jagdeo during his weekly press conference on Thursday.

The VP was asked by Denis Chabrol of Demerara Waves, ‘Gov being a shareholder in GUYSUCO… what explanations are being given by the corporation for its dismal performance?’

Jagdeo in response said, “On sugar I was with the president a few days ago and he said to the Minister of Agriculture… directed him to meet with all the parties, the union, the management and a number of other people who have an interest or knowledge of sugar to get a report back to him.”

He said that GUYSUCO’s argument is that they have been expanding cultivation and they are currently doing quite a bit of work to get more cane from the field which will increase their target.

“They will go back… from what I heard they will make between 60-70,000 tons this year. So clearly that below their target so they have… the minister of agriculture has to explain to the president why they are under performing on their target and to give credible explanation. So, he is asked that and I don’t want to be premature before that report comes back to the president,” he said.

Jagdeo reasoned that the sugar workers have been working very hard but they have a number of things stacked against them, and he has seen attempts being made to reorient almost the entire industry. This included the conversion of beds to facilitate mechanization, and though this requires a lot of capital input at present it will yield results.

He explained that, “The variety of cane they are bringing in now and planting would have higher yields and already we are seeing this, some are coming from Brazil, we are looking at Cuba to bring in because all of the old ratoons, the old canes are not yielding the kinds of variety. We have had cases where from India the technical specialists who came down here, who said you can get double the output per hectare.”

On November 06, Kaieteur News reported that the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) said that the government cannot continue to prop-up the loss-making Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) by doling out billions to the industry which in turn subsidises the price of the product on the world market.

Reports are that the Corporation has been suffering yearly losses despite huge spending by the PPP/C administration. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Co-Leader of the WPA, Dr. David Hinds was asked to state the party’s position in light of heavy financial losses by a GUYSUCO report.  “Do you still hold to the view that the estates should not have been closed as recommended by the COI with Dr. Thomas?” he was asked.

Dr. Hinds in response said, “We do however continue to believe that it is not sustainable to maintain the industry in the way it is being maintained with the large subsidies from the government. We cannot continue to produce sugar at the high price that it is being produced. In effect what we are doing, and what we continue to do is to subsidise those who buy our sugar on the world market.”

Stating that the current world market price of sugar is somewhere around 12 cents per pound, Hinds highlighted that Guyana is producing sugar at around 40 cents per pound, “therefore in actuality what we are inevitably doing is subsidising the people who are buying our sugar and we think that that is not sustainable.”

Dr. Hinds mentioned that the WPA is in no way surprised that the industry is in trouble and the party is of the opinion that it is time for another look to be taken at the industry to see the current situation and what changes need to be made in real time.

Meanwhile, only recently, the Alliance For Change called out the government for its treatment of the dire situation at GuySuCo, saying that merely changing the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will not fix the problems.

Former Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan said, “The sugar industry suffers fundamental problems, which cannot be solved by replacing CEOs, or fooling Guyanese with expectations of the hollowest order.”

Going into some statistics, he told reporters that out of the 37,000 tons target for the first crop of 2024 GuySuCo managed to produce only 6,738 tons and for the second crop so far, they have managed to produce 25,000 tons of the 63,000 tons, with two months remaining to conclude it.

“All the chatter which came from former PPP appointed CEO Sasenarine Singh early this year that GuySuCo will realise increased sugar production in 2024, by expansion of acreage, retooling and mechanization was just poppycock and propaganda. When the PPP realised that Sase has fooled them, it sent Sase Singh off to Brussels and then brought one of its loyalist activists Mr. Cheong as the replacement,” Ramjattan lamented.

The Guyana Agricultural Workers’ Union (GAWU) also recently raised concerns about the GuySuCo not meeting its production target. As of October 26, 2024, the Guyana  Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) produced 24,711 tons of sugar, representing just 39 per cent of its 63,276- ton target. GAWU said as much as 60 per cent of the cropping period has been exhausted, and it is apprehensive that the deficit cannot be closed in the remaining cropping weeks.

 

According to GAWU from its perspective, “the industry’s sad situation cannot be delinked from the management of its cultivation and agricultural operations. According to GAWU, before the commencement of the crop, the Union drew GuySuCo’s attention to several important issues that required intervention. “It appears that our concerns were brushed aside. Recently, we have expressed concern about the production rate and trajectory. It seems that those charged with agricultural management in the industry have, for reason/s best known to themselves, chosen to turn a Nelson’s Eye.”

GAWU said given the conducive weather to mechanised sugar operations over the past few weeks, it is puzzled that daily production levels remained constrained. “It begs the question: What are the factor(s) which have inhibited production levels? The industry remains heavily reliant on manual cane harvesting complemented by mechanised loading, a practice that is now decades old.”

(Agri. Minister to explain why GUYSUCO been missing targets-Jagdeo)

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• Agri Minister, GUYSUCO, Jagdeo, President, sugar, VP

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