Despite the large subsidies given to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) over the years, there has been no positive impact on the financial state of the corporation, according to Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, who yesterday said it is a situation the economy “simply cannot afford.”
In his presentation during the continuing debate on the government’s proposed 2018 national budget, Holder offered no sweetener to the hundreds of sugar workers, who are being laid off around the country and who are crying out. Instead, he said the country’s framework for governing the industry has to evolve and become more in tune with reducing vulnerabilities, resolving institutional and legacy issues and diversifying away from sugar to more sustainable industries.
Holder did tell the National Assembly that come next year, sugar cane yield is expected to increase from 55 tonnes of cane per hectare to 78.43 tonnes of cane per hectare.
He also said this
