Project Gold to be launched on May 9

Project Gold, the Enmore Packaging Plant which is critical to the viability of the sugar industry will be officially commissioned in another few weeks.

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud announced yesterday that the new cane sugar packaging plant is to be commissioned on May 9.  Project Gold is seen as an important project within the struggling industry given its focus on value-added projects.

Persaud’s announcement came via the Government Information Agency (GINA) which called Project Gold important and said that it requires a transitional shift in operational procedure, implementation and overall production, fused with raising standards and expansion in the range of products generated by the industry.

The Enmore plant would have a capacity to initially process around 40,000 tonnes of sugar a year, but with an available supply of cane the capacity increases to 80,000 tonnes per annum. Cane cultivation and sugar production in general have to be ramped up to support the new initiatives in the factory; unfavourable weather conditions earlier this year have already impacted on both production and future cultivation.

GINA reported that construction of the $2.4 billion packaging facility commenced in October 2009, via an investment by government with support from the European Union. The state has pumped some US$12 million in resources into the plant, which is also part of the indicators for the release of funds from the European Union.

Project Gold will help to form part of the approach to cushion the industry’s ability to deal with price cuts, GINA said, adding that another aspect of the project will be the restructuring within the factory to enable it to produce high grade sugar for packaging purposes, while larger acreages within the East Coast Demerara area will be brought under cultivation to produce adequate cane supply in order to ensure a brighter future for the sugar industry.

The facility will be manned by 24 persons who will be actively involved in the packaging and storage area, and it will be fed with cane from both the Enmore and La Bonne Intention (LBI) factories. According to GINA, a small amount of sugar will likely be brought in from Blairmont as well.

This new packaging plant will have a different specialization than that of the Skeldon Sugar Factory and was conceptualize as a facility to refine sugar, and satisfy a demand for white sugar throughout the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

The industry’s flagship factory at Skeldon has been plagued with numerous defects and is yet to function at maximum capacity.