The Guyana Sugar Corpora-tion says a number of 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.
It cited inclement weather conditions, high absenteeism, declining productivity, loss of skills to migration and the delay in commissioning of the new Skeldon factory among the reasons for the low production level, in a statement to the press yesterday.
The company said that the issue of reaching the maximum cane level in 2011 is only related to the new Skeldon factory, adding that the cane supply was planned to increase to 1.1m tonnes of cane over a period of three years as new lands are developed by GuySuCo (4,500ha) as well as private farmers (4,500ha) to bring the total estate area to approximately 14,000ha.
GuySuCo pointed to a report in the Guyana Times newspaper yesterday, which it said misrepresented statements made by an official on the issue of its funding. The company said that its practice had long been for GuySuCo to borrow money from an international bank at the beginning of the first crop to cover crop financing, which it repays from its own self generated cash before the end of each year, noting that this was indicated to the newspaper reporter.
According to GuySuCo, it was the reporter who solicited a response from the Corpora-tion on the state of the negotiations between GuySuCo and GAWU on the annual production incentive, and rhetorically asked whether “the government would bail out GuySuCo if it fails to secure financing” to which the GuySuCo official responded that the company has not made a request to the government for any funding.
GuySuCo also noted its disapproval of the statement in the newspaper, which said that it needs an additional three billion dollars to finance crop cultivation for 2009,” so as “to rescue itself from grinding to a halt next year.”
The low purity level of the juice being extracted at the new factory was the latest cause for concern, well-placed sources say.
As a result, the current crop will likely grind to a close without any positive signs of the factory being ready for early next year. The new factory has been beset by a range of problems. It is a turn-key project and the government is yet to take possession of it from the Chinese contractor, CNTIC. The factory was expected to be in place for this year’s crucial second crop and the failure will impact on production.
The purity level of the extract is expected to be above 80, as a requirement of the new technology being introduced at the factory, but it continues to fall below this, a source close to the operation said yesterday. The Contin-uous Vacuum Pan technology (CVP), which is part of the new operation, cannot be utilized if purity levels are low.
China National Techno-logy Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC), which constructed the factory and is overseeing the commissioning, is expected to hold talks soon with GuySuCo on the way forward since according to the source “the issues facing the factory right now are complicated, serious and must be addressed”.
The sugarcane that is being harvested for sugar production at the new factory apparently poses problems due to a build-up of thick mud among other sediments. It is unclear as to whether the factory has facilities to clean up the cane before it is processed, but the source noted that concerns have been raised with GuySuCo as it relates to the condition of the canes that are being harvested. Currently cane is being harvested manually though mechanical harvesters would be partially employed in the operations at the new plant.
Testing is ongoing at the factory, but the issue of low purity levels coupled with a marked delay in the supply of sugarcane to the new plant is reportedly among the biggest setbacks.
Stabroek News was told that some 4-5 hours usually elapse after the first batch of sugarcane reaches the new factory before a second batch is supplied.
