THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) took the Stabroek News to task yesterday for publishing on Sunday what it dubbed “misleading information” in an article related to the operations of the Skeldon factory.According to the Corporation, contrary to the newspaper report that the GuySuCo expended an additional US$30M to “rehabilitate” the Skeldon factory, the actual sum spent was only $1.8M, which was incurred for six separate projects.

GuySuCo said, “Prior to the start of the second crop last year, three of the six projects, which include the condensate tank, bagasse scratcher and pipe support, were completed in accordance with the required specification, and have been working satisfactorily ever since.
The other three projects were delayed due to the late arrival of required spares, and were successfully completed before the commencement of the current crop.”

The Sugar Corporation gave assurance that there is “no compatibility issue” with the plant equipment supplied by the China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC), and Bosch.

“Sugar processing equipment are manufactured worldwide — in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, etc, and are all used in various sugar factories throughout the (world),” GuySuCo said. It added that the report, which stated that “GuySuCo’s technical staff was generally left out of the discussions and it was the Board that seemingly made decisions,” is also incorrect.

“The technical staffers were fully involved with the Bosch Projects, that include approving of the designs for all six projects,” GuySuCo said.

The corporation made clear, also, that all six projects were completed to the desired specifications.
By Vanessa Narine