Financial Analyst, Sasenarine Singh has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (ag) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) effective September 14.
This announcement was made in a release yesterday from Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha.
Singh replaces Harold Davis Jr who was appointed CEO in August of 2018.
According to the statement, Singh is expected to lead the Conditional Survey ahead of the reopening of the shuttered Enmore, Rose Hall, and Skeldon Estates and will be supported in this task by Vishnu Panday – Skeldon, Aaron Dukhia – Rose Hall, and Dr N K Gopaul – East Demerara Estates (Enmore).
Singh is a Project Finance Specialist with over 16 years’ experience at turnaround management internationally and possesses leadership experience at building capacity in teams, the release said. He holds a Master’s Degree in Finance from Lancaster University, an Executive Post Graduate Diploma from the London Business School, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy from the University of Guyana. He is also a Chartered Accountant (ACCA).
The GuySuCo board has also been appointed, according to the Official Gazette. It is chaired by banker Pravinchandra Dave. The Vice Chairman is Anthony Vieira. It also includes Ramesh Persaud and Tarachand Balgobin.
In its manifesto for the 2020 general elections. The PPP/C vowed to reopen three of the four estates shuttered by the APNU+AFC government: East Demerara, Rose Hall and Skeldon. It has also announced a development plan for the former Wales estate where the factory had been dismantled.
GuySuCo has been a huge financial drag on the economy for the last two administrations particularly as it relates to the troubled Chinese-built Skeldon factory which drove up the cost of production enormously. GuySuCo has lost the majority of its preferential priced markets which means that it has to target the CARICOM market and value-added production.
Around 7,000 sugar workers were laid off when the four estates were shuttered. The existing estates: Utivlugt, Blairmont and Albion are struggling to meet their production targets.
