Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM
Latest News
Management shake-up at GuySuCo coming – Mustapha
Kaieteur News- There will be a shake up in the management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) come 2025, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said, on Monday, at his end-of-year press conference.
He told reporters that government will be very stringent as they want to ensure that GuySuCo performs the way it should. “…In the new year, we’ll see some changes in management of GuySuCo at various estates they are already contemplating to move managers. Some managers will come out of the system. So they themselves, without our intervention…they themselves have looked to see to assign people in the area that they can perform better,” the Minister said.
Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha
Voicing his displeasure in the way the corporation has been performing, Mustapha reminded that President Irfaan Ali said a few days ago that the riot act was read to the management of GuySuco. The Minister did however, admit that there were some difficulties that affected production.
“…We know that there was a serious drought issue that affect the growth of cane. But he has made it very clear that if the target for 2025, first crop, (and) the second crop is not achieved, then (we) will take drastic action. We will take drastic action to ensure that we deal with it…We want to ensure that they reduce their cost of production, they achieve their targets. That is why we have technical support. We are providing technical support also for them,” Minister Mustapha explained.
President Irfaan Ali, a week ago during an interview with reporters, said that he is aware of the challenges facing the corporation. President Ali said the management is also aware of their underperformance. However, he said, failure to meet specific targets will result in decisive managerial actions.
“We sat down with them [and] they brought together an investment plan that is needed to keep the factory efficient. We have supported that investment plan [and] I have made it very clear that if the target for 2025 (first and second crop target) is not met, then heads will roll,” President Ali was quoted saying in a Department of Public Information press release.
The ailing sugar corporation has, over the years, seen continuous decline in performance in terms of production, but has seen billions of dollars from the nation’s coffers being plugged annually into the industry. In the mid-year report, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh said the industry is estimated to have contracted by 60.4 per cent in the first half of this year, with production of 6,739 tonnes of sugar reported by GuySuCo. This performance was attributed to the carried-over impacts of drier-than-usual weather conditions last year into the second quarter of this year. As a result of the performance in the first half of the year, the growth projection for the sector is now 16.3 per cent for 2024, with a revised projection of 70,000 tonnes of sugar to be produced this year.
Additionally, the Government said its interventions in the industry are aimed at diversifying and modernising the sugar industry, while reducing the cost of production. The same report stated that some 2,734 hectares of land were converted to support mechanised cultivation and harvesting of sugar cane at the Rose Hall, Albion, Blairmont, and Uitvlugt estates, bringing the total land converted to 8,400 hectares. Moreover, six additional cane harvesters were expected to be operational by the end of 2024, increasing the fleet to ten.
Further, the rehabilitation of heavy and light duty revetments to strengthen the drainage system across the industry is on track for completion. An additional sugar dryer at the Blairmont Estate, budgeted at $60 million, is expected to be installed by the end of the year. This dryer will enhance the quality of the sugar for packaging. Further, the two additional lines at the packaging plant at Blairmont and the construction of the building for the packaging plant at Albion are on track to be completed by the end of the year. The industry currently employs 8,179 persons and it is anticipated that employment will expand to over 8,300 in the remainder of the year.
(Management shake-up at GuySuCo coming – Mustapha)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The eternal optimism of the human spirit
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Every New Year’s Eve, like clockwork, we engage in a ritual that is predictable as... more
Breaking the Chains of Poverty: A need for political will
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The year 2024 has underscored a grim reality: poverty continues to be an unyielding... more
Weekend Cartoon
