GuySuCo to spend $19.4B to revive sugar under new strategy

Over the course of the next four years, the Guyana Sugar Corporation will spend a total of $19.45 billion in an attempt to revive the struggling sugar industry.  This is according to GuySuCo’s long-awaited 2013-2017 Strategic Plan  – still to be released to the public – which addresses what should be done to correct the mistakes of the past and bring the struggling state-owned corporation from out of its current $5.2 billion deficit.

The previous plan has been described as a failure. While the new plan addresses various criticisms, including concerns of the political opposition and the Guyana Agricul-tural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), it doesn’t provide details on how any issues will actually be addressed, particularly in the light of the slumping production.

“Lack of cash and financing to invest in capital programmes necessary to achieve these targets,” was stated as being the major issue in over seven of the company’s 17 main objectives for the course of the Strategic Plan. The lack of cash and financing was not addressed in the plan and particularly absent was any mention of the $31.1 billion that