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Sweet Nothing: Sugar industry declined by 21% in 2024
Kaieteur News- Despite billions of dollars being continuously pumped into the sugar industry; there is no sweet celebration as the sector recorded a 21.8% for last year. This was disclosed by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, during his budget presentation on Friday.
Minister Singh told the National Assembly that the Guyana Sugar Corporation GUYSUCO produced a mere 47,130 tons of sugar in 2024, blaming this poor production on El Nino compounded with labour shortages across the industry throughout the year.
It is important to note that the corporation once again did not meet last year’s targets set for either of its crops.
Minister with the responsibility for Finance, Ashni Singh
On October 29, 2024, this publication reported that the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) said it is deeply concerned over the current trend of sugar production.
As of October 26, 2024, the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) produced 24,711 tonnes of sugar, representing just 39 per cent of its 63,276-tonne target. As much as 60 per cent of the cropping period had been exhausted at the time GAWU issued the statement.
In the statement, GAWU said 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 it appears that rather than addressing their difficulties in a complete and frank manner; the GuySuCo agricultural leadership is preparing to deploy rationales and justifications to obfuscate “to excuse their poor performance.”
Late last year, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha threatened a shakeup in management if the poor performance persists.
He told reporters at a news conference 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.
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, during an interview with reporters had 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.
(Sweet Nothing)
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