While some sectors have not been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, others have been hard hit, according to the Private Sector Commission (PSC), which has recommended that government consider buying crops to support farmers and to distribute to citizens who may need food.
At a virtual news conference hosted by the organisation yesterday, Chairman of the PSC’s Trade and Investment Sub-Committee Ramesh Dookhoo said that sugar production has been affected by distancing restrictions put in place to safeguard against transmission of the disease, while there has been a fluctuation in demand for some crash crops.
Dookhoo, who was reporting from a sectoral analysis he undertook to determine the economic impact as a result of the pandemic, said social distancing affected the turnout of the workforce in the sugar industry and as a result the production was negatively affected. “The overall quality of the sugar cane deteriorated as well and factory costs also increased significantly,” he said.
