GuySuCo rebuilding, strengthening a top priority

The enhancement of operations at Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) remains high on the government’s agenda.

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali provided insight into several key measures that the government is implementing to boost production while also ensuring sugar remains a viable part of Guyana’s economy.

The president was at the time speaking during an interview on a newly televised programme ‘In the Seat.’

Recalling the deplorable state of the sugar industry when the PPP/C Government assumed office in 2020, the president explained that now his administration is in the process of rebuilding.

“The fields were left abandoned. So even the canals…all the punts were rotten. There was no dam. It was like a forest. We had to build back from the field. Then we had to build back all the factories. Now, this year they’re at just over 40,000 tonnes and they expect to grind until late December,” he said.

President Ali further explained, “We have to now go back, get spares to now come in for existing operation, and then bring in additional spares to keep the operation going. So that logistics of bringing in the spares, getting the factories going, that has created a lot of problems.”

The government is also bringing in a technical capacity to advance the mechanisation agenda for GuySuCo.

Specialists from India and Cuba are also lending support to the industry in areas such as field management, agro-management, and crop management.

“[They are] working to help us to build back the system, improve the system, bring efficiency into the system at the field and the factories,” the president said.

Additionally, to expand the production of value-added sugar products, new packaging plants are under construction at Albion and Blairmont Sugar Estates.

President Ali underscored that while this period of rebuilding is bound to have its challenges, it is important to embrace these trials to foster success in the industry.

“We have to have an infusion of those who have done this successfully with our local team so that we can have that knowledge transfer and we have to develop a new culture in the industry. We have to also develop a new culture and create a winning culture,” he emphasised.

The government earmarked a whopping $6 billion in the national budget this year, as part of its efforts to improve the production and operational efficiency of the sugar industry.

The PPP/C Administration, in its 2020-2015 manifesto, promised to revive the sugar industry and reenergise local communities, following the shutdown of the industry under the previous coalition government.

This effort to revitalise the industry comes at a high cost, but according to President Ali, sugar cannot be considered solely a financial product.

He reminded that the closure of the sugar estate in Wales brought the community’s bustling economy to a grinding halt.

“A market that had hundreds of vendors closed immediately, and the shops closed. The spin-off is that…the drainage and irrigation system that supported farmers, GuySuCo maintained them. In the spin-off effect, there is an economic measurement that must be taken into consideration. When you invest in sugar, it is not only for the sugar workers, it is for the economy that sugar supports,” the head of state explained.

In just under three years, the PPP/C reopened the Rose Hall Estate, which recommenced operations in 2023.

Since 2020, significant investments have been injected into the rehabilitation and modernisation of sugar factories and cane fields, and over 4,600 workers were rehired.