CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Dr Rajendra Singh, informed representatives of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) on Monday that the sugar corporation would not be able to pay senior and junior staffers for the month of May.
As such, GuySuCo may have to cease its operations on all estates with effect from Sunday (May 31), unless funding to the Corporation becomes available within a few days.
These disclosures, made at a meeting with the sugar sector stakeholders, have triggered concerns from the major unions relative to the welfare of their members, and have informed a call on the current administration to take the necessary action to support the industry.
The current APNU+AFC administration has reportedly been informed of the situation.
“Should the Corporation cease its operations,” the CEO explained, “all employees, waged and salaried -– except security personnel — would not be provided with work from (Sunday) May 31, 2015,” the unions said on Monday, in a joint statement.
The unions have said that cessation of GuySuCo’s operations would further jeopardize the state of the industry and impact negatively on some 16,000 workers of the industry.
MISSED TARGET
It was reported last week that GuySuCo produced 81,194 tonnes of sugar in the first crop of 2015, some 5,007 tonnes below the initial target. The industry had set a first crop sugar production target of 86,201 tonnes of sugar. The GuySuCo first crop production therefore represents roughly eight percent improvement over its 2014 production of 75,000 tonnes.
A press statement from the company said the production, while short of its target, reflects improved productivity.
“The improved production is a reflection of both increased productivity and quality from improved cane yields across the industry, delivering 3.1 tons of cane per hectare over budget,and a one percent higher increase over budget of sugar in the cane,” the statement said.
It added, “Had both Skeldon and the East Demerara Estates been able to complete production of all of (GuySuCo’s) first crop cane remaining to be harvested, the total first crop would have exceeded 91,000 tonnes; that is, in excess of the targeted production of 86,201 tonnes. It is important to note that the remaining un-harvested cane from the first crop will be harvested in the second crop, which will result in the industry achieving its targeted 2015 production of 241,503 tonnes of sugar.”
In 2014, GuySuCo recorded a production of 216,147 tonnes -– the first crop having surpassed the 75,000-tonne target, bringing in about 80,000 tonnes.
The calamitous drop in sugar prices on the global and preferred market scene, which challenges all sugar industries, coupled with the dramatic fall in earnings and, by extension, cash flow, and the prevailing weather conditions were among several of the difficulties that affected the local sugar industry during 2014.
The industry saw a dismal sugar production level in the past years, but Guyana has since been taking steps to turn around its sugar industry, and hopes to soon meet a 300,000-tonne target. There is also a projection that the sector would reach a 400,000-tonne goal by 2020.
The production being targeted by GuySuCo for 2015 is some 240,000 tonnes.
(Vanessa Narine)
