The Wales Sugar Estate would now be diversified into rice cultivation on 484 acres of land out of the 2000 to 3000 acres and GuySuCo has published an invitation for bids for clearing to be done.
Since the announcement in January this year of plans to close sugar cultivation at Wales, workers have been wondering what the land would be used for as nothing had been communicated to them.
The Engineering Services Department (ESD) of GuySuCo stated in an advertisement in today’s edition of the Guyana Chronicle, that the land was “required to be cleared of all vegetation to facilitate laser land leveling for rice cultivation.”
It said too that that the plot, which was originally used for cane farming has been taken out of cultivation. The cash-strapped company has also arranged a site visit for the bidders tomorrow at 2 pm and asked that they assemble at the estate’s administration building.
The advertisement is the first tangible announcement as it relates to the fate of the Wales sugar estate where some workers have already opted for severance and others are awaiting GuySuCo’s diversification plans.
During an interview with this newspaper in July, GuySuCo Finance Director, Paul Bhim had said that a feasibility study was being done for aquaculture and that it would hopefully be completed by the beginning of October.
He had said too that feasibility studies, which may be ready by next year, were also being done for cattle, milk and dairy production while GuySuCo would also be looking at rice and several other crops.
In that way, he had said, they are hoping to “sustain the employment we had with sugar” but noted that “a lot of training would be required because there would be a few new skills and they are quite prepared to do that.”
According to Bhim, the study for the aquaculture project is being done by a company out of Miami which is said to be well experienced in agriculture projects. The company is also working with the Ministry of Agriculture while the Colombian government has also offered to help.
Rice production has boomed in recent years though this year the acreage under cultivation has decreased. It is unclear whether current sugar workers will be offered plots to grow rice or be hired to do so. The price that paddy/rice would be sold for would be an issue as since the loss of the Venezuelan rice market, growers have had to settle for lower returns. Critics have also said that GuySuCo has to look for foreign exchange earners and rice may not be a viable option as there is already a lot of competition on the market.
