A two-member delegation representing the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Wednesday presented a document to Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder on how improvements can be made to the beleaguered Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
The brief, which was presented by PSC Members, Vickram Oditt and Annette Arjoon-Martins looked at ways in which GuySuCo can improve yields, the diversification of the industry, proper husbandry, field operations, and the Corporation’s indebtedness, a release from the Ministry of Agriculture said.
The duo held dialogue with Holder and GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Errol Hanoman on the future of the sugar industry.
During the meeting, the document on the sugar industry prepared by the PSC’s Agricultural Committee was handed over to Holder.
“GuySuCo’s poor performance has been due to poor sugar cane yields…the result is reduced production and productivity, increased cost and annual losses which keep increasing- a no win situation,” Oditt stated, according to the release.
Another area which has seen the Corporation suffering the most is the loss of man days which contributes to the Corporation failing to achieve its projected target, the release added.
“The sad reality is that from January 2000 to September 2016, GuySuCo lost over 1,000,000 man days as a result of industrial action which is worrying,” Hanoman said.
Recently, workers of the Albion Estate have been taking a stand against such losses and have not been supportive of the Unions’ organized strikes. During Tuesday’s strike, the release said that GuySuCo recorded a 59 percent work attendance at the said Estate, compared to the normal 60 percent turnout.
“It is clear the workers have spoken. They are concerned about their livelihood and they are taking a stand against the Union forcing them to strike against the Government…The stakeholders need to confront the hard realities of sugar. It is a fact that the corporation is highly indebted and requires huge injections of capital to survive annually,” the CEO contended.
He also pointed out that the EU’s quota management for sugar will end on September 30, 2017 and a fall in prices and a decline in sugar imports from traditional suppliers are anticipated.
The end of the quota management is the last step in the reform process of the European Union market which began in 2006 and which has been the subject of Accompanying Measures Support for sugar producers in the Caribbean.
Holder, according to the release said that for the Corporation to survive and prosper, GuySuCo needs to be re-organized into a diversified industry.
He pointed out that Government has since taken a consultative approach to the future of GuySuCo and had requested the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic and the Unions to have dialogue on the way forward and present their proposals for the corporation’s survival.
“It is surprising that, notwithstanding increasing annual losses since 2009, the then government had absolutely no plan to bring the industry back to profitability. Their only plan was annual bailouts. When asked why a socio-economic assessment of the industry was not done, the Opposition spokesperson, Irfaan Ali, responded that this was not done because they had no intention of closing or divesting the industry”, the Minister said in the release.
On February 17, 2017, the Government had a final dialogue with Members of the Opposition who, once again, had no proposal for the survival of the industry, despite being given all the necessary information requested from Government, the release stated.
