- Jagdeo

GuySuCo has significant management issues that have impacted on the current state of the industry, but a few changes are expected to be made within the company in the coming year, President Bharrat Jagdeo has said.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Sugar in Guyana has deteriorated considerably, Jagdeo said yesterday, noting that tough times are ahead for the industry as it braces for the 36 per cent price cuts to be implemented by the European Union. The President described the situation as one where “things will get worse before they get better as we accommodate the cuts”.

He said closure was not an option and the focus over the next few years must be on making the industry sustainable. Jagdeo said this was not likely to happen if production remained low, and stakeholders across the country failed to give the administration the corresponding support it needed to save GuySuCo.

Production in the industry needs to be around 400,000 tonnes a year, the President stated. He said GuySuCo needed the support of the main opposition party, which recently pronounced on the state of the industry, as well as the union. According to him, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) also has to bear some responsibility for the current state of affairs, adding that the union cannot make a case for the Annual Productive Incentive (API) it has been trumpeting for when the target went down from 335,000 to 226,000 tonnes this year.

“Clearly there is no case for production incentive,” the President stated. He said the union needed to get onboard with the government and other stakeholders to save local sugar.

The Head of State said what is happening with GuySuCo is a major problem, noting that it is currently receiving attention at the highest levels of his administration.

He said GuySuCo cited a few reasons for its current problems — the weather, a pest infestation and the delay in the new factory at Skeldon.  Jagdeo said he has no reason to doubt what the company is saying but he believes the management issues are critical.

GuySuCo recently admitted in press statement that several factors have contributed to a very poor year for the company resulting in its lowest production level for many years, but it affirmed that the situation has not deteriorated to the point where it has to turn to government for funding.