Agriculture Ministers and other representatives involved in the sugar industry from Jamaica, Belize, Barbados and Belgium were taken on a visit yesterday to the construction site of the modern Skeldon sugar factory by Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud.

He told them that the factory is the beginning of government’s plan to modernise the industry and make it the most competitive in the Caribbean, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Minister Persaud said there are plans to establish a distillery, secure investments for a refinery and use sugar-cane as a source of bio-diesel, when sugar production has increased. These are all part of the administration’s long-term development plan for the sugar industry with focus on diversification activities.

“The objective is to make Skeldon, with the new factory, the jewel of Guyana’s sugar industry and to have the lowest cost of production,” GINA quoted Persaud as saying.

Government, having anticipated the impact of the European Union (EU) sugar reform, began preparation to modernise Guyana’s sugar industry about six years ago, GINA reported. It was in this regard that the US$169M Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project (SSMP) was initiated to construct a modern factory and a co-generation plant.

The factory, which has a proposed capacity of over 120,000 tonnes per annum is estimated to cost US$110M while the co-generation facility is expected to generate 10 megawatts for Berbice.

The project is being executed by the China Technology Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC) and is scheduled for completion in February 2008. The contract for undertaking the project was signed in June 2004 between the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and CNTIC.

According to GINA, Project Manager of SSMP Paul Hough updated the visiting team on the status of the project which entails agricultural and infrastructural works that are well advanced.

He further explained that the factory will be fully automated with sucrose extraction by diffusion. It is designed with a high thermal efficiency to facilitate the co-generation of surplus electrical energy through a combined heat and power process.

Meanwhile, Chairman of GUYSUCO Ronald Alli pointed out that SSMP is intended to bring the cost of producing sugar below 11 US cents per pound. At present, the cost of production ranges between 17 and 18 US cents per pound.

GINA said that among those present during the visit were Chief Executive of GUYSUCO, Nick Jackson, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Zhang Jungao, Regional Chairman of Region Six, Zulfikar Mustapha and General Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand.