Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Errol Hanoman, has said that notwithstanding the poor performance of the company in 2008, he remains confident his staff will turn the industry around.

Hanoman, who was at the time speaking at the recent function to honour the 2008 outstanding Berbice sugar worker at the Rosignol Secondary School, underscored the need for team work to bring about the desired change.

He pointed out that since 2005 , the Corporation has been unable to achieve its tillage and replanting programme, primarily because of inclement weather. In 2008, the annual rainfall recorded was the highest in 53 years.

Currently, the CEO said, some 35 per cent of the cane fields are uneconomical to harvest as a result of poor yields.

This situation means it would cost the company more to harvest the cane and take it to factory than the revenue it get from the sugar produced.

He said that GuySuCo, in an effort to correct this problem and turn around the industry, has implemented several measures, including the acceleration and expansion of cane cultivation.

“What we are going to do is start the second crop by making sure our own equipment is available, and that they are all in good order and ready to work once the tillage season starts.

“In addition, we are going to bring on board contractors who will come in with their operators to work with us, and our intention is to do in 50 to 60 days, what, prior to 2005, we used to do in 110 days.

He added, “If we can rehabilitate the cultivation in two to three years, rather than five years, that is what we are going to do.”

This approach, the CEO stated, will also apply to the Skeldon land development. He expressed confidence that by the end of 2011, the 1.2 million tonnes of cane the factory requires will be on the ground.

In relation to the factory, he said it is expected that an investment of that magnitude will have some teething problems, but most of the defects should be remedied by March next year.

The one-year defects certification period for the state-of-the-art facility is expected to expire around this time.

He said, too, that over 40 per cent of cultivation will be converted to machine-friendly layout to increase productivity during the fewer harvesting opportunity days.

Hanoman also disclosed that cultivation at the Blairmont Estate will be expanded to some 2,000 acres, and that actual planting is expected to start during the course of next year.

“I am hoping that the 2,000 acres will be used to produce organic sugar,” he said, and contended that it is time that GuySuCo start looking at a Berbice brand of packaged sugar.

Further, the CEO reported that work has started on planning the factory’s expansion and said phase one of this initiative should enable the factory to process 130 tonnes of cane per hour.

“I would like to think that this is only the beginning of an expansion process for the Blairmont Estate. I also expect that one day we will see co-generation at Blairmont,” he put forward.