Norton lays out plan to diversify GUYSUCO under APNU Govt.

Jun 30, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – Opposition leader, Aubrey Norton said Friday that a new A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) government will see the revitalisation and refashioning of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuco) into an entity that will house a number of viable and practical financial arms, including sugar cane production.

Addressing the media at his party’s weekly press conference, Norton said the ailing industry could be involved in alternative economic activities.

“To that end, we will diversify its portfolio by using its assets (such as its land and workforce) for new business ventures, including aquaculture, food crops, manufacturing, and housing development. For us, therefore, GUYSUCO need not remain exclusively an agriculture-based entity. With investments in training and equipment, for instance, GUYSUCO can become one of the largest builders of homes and communities in Guyana,” he said.

The presidential hopeful said there is much potential that in the sugar cane plant itself where it can be utilised to produce raw and processed sugar as well as ethanol, bagasse board, livestock feed and the cogeneration of electricity. He said these are opportunities that undertaken by both private investors and the state.

“Several of the strategies we outlined above for the agri-sector and food security will also help a new GUYSUCO, such as prioritising the building of a fertiliser plant and closing the time gap between research results and commercial applications. With these reforms, a new GUYSUCO will attract more workers as compensation, job opportunities, and working conditions improve. We believe that GUYSUCO can become a net contributor to national revenues rather than a drain on the nation’s resources,” he added.

Further probing from the media to add ‘meat’ to his statement, he told reporters that his government will make the corporation super viable but not just with sugar, as there are alternative areas that could be explored.

“We mentioned aquaculture, which is another possibility, and we also said that it doesn’t have to restrict itself to sugar. Apart from its diversification in agriculture, you can train the existing workforce in construction, etcetera, and not only guys who, but there are other industries that can become involved in large scale production of housing,” he explained.

He said further that the government housing policy has failed since it really is only a land distribution policy with no mechanism in place for citizens to actually build and own a home. With the current demand for housing, he is proposing that elements of GuySuco be transformed so that it could be involved in other services that are lucrative, beneficial to the citizens of Guyana.

“We would also, of course, remind Guyanese that if you look at the coalition’s performance from 2015 onward, you saw much better performance in GuySuco. You’ve actually seen a decline in GuySuco in some years, something like 60 per cent less sugar being produced, and we’ve seen, actually, the government shoot its targets by as much as 60 per cent so that just, I think, first of all, gives you a baseline in terms of the level of performance at minimum you would anticipate,” he said.

People’s National Congress Reform spokesperson on oil and gas, Elson Low added that something the People’s Progressive Party Civic government missed is the question of generating free fertiliser to allow the use the natural gas, converting it into fertiliser.

“I think, really dropped the ball on this particular issue, because, of course, the pipeline to provide that natural gas has been finished since the end of 2024 and yet they’ve put in place no systems to make use of that, even as the gas energy plant eventually comes on stream. So, what has happened is that agriculture has been stifled by that lack of preparation and foresight,” he said.

Low reasoned that it is not only GuySuco that will benefit from the fertiliser, but the wider agricultural sector, as it could reduce food prices by 20 to 30 per cent. He said if GuySuco is going to be diversified and have access to low-cost fertiliser, then it would be a boost in terms of productivity. This means that while productivity improves, workers could be paid more to have a better quality of life.

“We’re focused not just on keeping GuySuco workers in the existing systems for political reasons, but rather on looking at ways to improve their lives, to move them forward, just the same as we’re looking to improve the lives of all Guyanese,” he added.

On June 17, President Irfaan Ali announced government’s plans to diversify the GuySuCo beyond sugar and its by-products by producing rice, corn, and cassava.

“We have to think strategically of how we will expand the role of GuySuCo. And perhaps it is time for us to reimagine GuySuco’s role altogether. Why must its mandate stop only at sugar? GuySuCo can and must become a hub of rural economic development,” the president said.

Despite the government pumping billions of dollars into the sugar corporation, the company has failed to meet targets and, more so, become profitable.

President Ali said that GuySuCo’s land, infrastructure and knowledge base could support the production of other crops as well as livestock operations, agro-processing hubs, farmer trading and extension services, fabrication and engineering services.

“The global machinery industry historically recruited machinists and fabricators from GuySuCo. We have to leverage this human capital and human potential. And in embracing this future that I speak of, there will be some exciting opportunities. Crop diversification, skills diversification, income diversification,” the president announced.

President Ali said that the plan to diversify GuySuCo will benefit sugar workers. “We don’t only want the sugar workers to rely on their income from sugar. We want to convert acreage of land into high-yielding production, high-value production, but production that is owned by the workers,” he said.

President Ali also revealed that the government plans to co-invest with workers to establish new economic activities and that more than 20 business proposals have already been submitted for manufacturing and other ventures in Enmore.

“That is why we have to put in this infrastructure so rapidly,” he added, highlighting the urgency of these developments.

Looking ahead, the president also announced that an additional 3,000 hectares of land will be converted to support mechanisation in 2025. This is in addition to the more than 5,000 hectares already converted.

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• APNU, diversification, Elson Low, GUYSUCO, Norton

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