Our sugar industry has been beset with a myriad of problems including unstable industrial relations, labour shortage, malfunctioning factors, adverse weather conditions and severe cuts in sugar prices as a result of the closure of the EU sugar protocol.

As regards the latter, Guyana loses US$45M annually, which is putting severe financial strain on the industry and, as such, is finding it difficult to increase wages and salaries of sugar workers.

This has had serious repercussions as many workers have opted out of the sugar industry to other industries where wages and salaries are higher.

This has resulted in a labour shortage in the sugar industry which is severely affecting production.

However, the industry has managed to survive, and along with Belize’s sugar industry are the only two sugar industries which have managed to survive, but also has the capacity to expand,  diversify and maintain the capacity to compete on the world market.
This has been so because the government, much to its credit, had foreseen the challenges that the industry would have to face and consequently formulated a strategic plan to modernise, expand and diversify the industry.

And so today while the industry faces many difficulties – the major one being to increase production to the desired level- it is poised to reach greater heights and return to sustainability and profitability.

The sugar industry is our largest industry and there is no option other than to ensure that it remains viable.

If it were to collapse, the national economy would not be able to withstand the economic shock and the adverse social consequences would be enormous.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the Enmore Packaging Plant, President Jagdeo alluded to this.

He noted that critics of the government’s stance on investing in the sugar industry must examine what the administration is doing in other areas also, citing support to other sectors of the economy which went through rough times.

The path to success will not be easy, but we have to succeed,” he said. “There is no other choice.”

“As we celebrate this achievement here today, we are celebrating the commitment of a government that sees the industry as important. We’re celebrating the commitment to workers to make the industry successful but we cannot just sit by and admire our achievements in the industry, and we have had achievements,” President Jagdeo said.

Therefore, it was most encouraging that one of the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s diversification and value-adding projects has fructified, that is, the Enmore Packaging Plant which is, part of a US$12.5M upgrade package for the Enmore Estate and another in the effort at making the sugar industry sustainable.

According to the CEO of GUYSUCO, the facility  will package 40,000 tonnes of sugar initially and 80,000 tonnes in some years and this would cause the industry’s earnings to grow by 30 to 35 percent.

This is indeed a significant boost and should help the industry turn around and return to profitability.

As was noted by the President, the road to success would not be an easy one but with the commitment of all stakeholders, the industry would return to profitability and sustainability.

The President was quite right when he said that the company needs to move on to fixing the next set of problems that plague the industry, so that “…we can have a prosperous, thriving sugar industry in Guyana.”