Skeldon production dismal

…even as corporation on verge of making first crop target

The Skeldon factory has produced just over 9,000 tonnes of its 14,000-tonne first crop sugar target even as the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is on the verge of attaining its 2014 first crop target.

The factory’s poor performance juxtaposed to what was the originally promised—110,000 tonnes annually when the factory was commissioned in 2009—paints a very disturbing picture, analysts say.

What makes the situation all the more alarming, according to critics and industry insiders, is that Skeldon’s low production figures come after millions were invested in its rehabilitation. GuySuCo is adamant that work by South African firm Bosch Engineering to repair the beleaguered Skeldon factory cost US$1.8M and not US$30 million