GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Guyana is refining its sugar industry, announcing major changes to operations that include a scale-back on factories and production.
Agriculture Minister Noel Holder disclosed the new plan that would see only three factories continuing operations and the production of 147,000 tonnes of sugar annually to meet the demands of its markets.
According to Holder, the changes have been driven by the falling value of the sector to the Guyana economy and mounting debt at the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation Guysuco, among other concerns.
“The dire revenue situation coincided with the loss of preferential markets and prices that the company enjoyed from 1976 to 2009,” he told the National Assembly on Monday.
Holder also cited chronic problems, including the migration of skilled and experienced managers, exhaustion of cash reserves, deteriorating field infrastructure and factories, and adversarial industrial relations.
Under the new plan, Holder said the Government would merge the operations of the Albion and Rose Hall Estates, resulting in the closure of the latter factory at year-end.
The other two factories earmarked to remain open are the Blairmont and Uitvlugt Estates. Production from these factories will be geared towards meeting the demand in the local markets (25,000 tonnes per year), the Caribbean Community Caricom and regional (50,000-60,000 tonnes per year), the US (12,500 tonnes per year) and the World Market (50,000 tonnes per year).
The David Granger administration said focus would be on producing for direct consumption, value-added sugars and providing electricity to the national grid (co-generation).
Despite the cuts, Holder assured that the Government “will retain as many workers as needed for all operations of the merged estates and factories.”
The Agriculture Minister also disclosed that the Government has begun soliciting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for the divestment of the state-of-the-art Skeldon Sugar Factory because Guysuco cannot afford to fix that facility.
He said the monies from Skeldon would help to bail out the cash-strapped and debt-burdened state-owned corporation. ~ Caribbean360 ~
