– Finance Minister
Recent investments of large sums of resources in Guysuco are reflective of this Government’s steadfast and longstanding concern for the sugar industry and, in particular, for the welfare of the workers of that industry. So said Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh in a recent comment to GINA in relation to current discussions on the financial status of the company.

Minister Singh stated that, at a time when many of the other countries of the Caribbean had taken the decision to exit the production of sugar and close their sugar industries, this Government identified emerging opportunities from those developments, and took a conscious decision to invest in a major modernisation and expansion programme for the Guyanese sugar industry. This programme was designed to achieve the specific objectives of enhancing the industry’s competitiveness and securing its long term viability, in the interest of both the workers of the industry and the economy as a whole.

The Minister explained that Government recognised early that certain critical investments would be required by the industry to ensure its ability to compete in the global marketplace and to adapt to changes taking place in its main destination markets. Specific objectives included reducing the average cost of producing sugar, and diversifying the product base into higher value, branded, and premium products. At the same time, Government recognised that, if Guysuco was to meet the cost of these major investments itself, the implications for the corporation’s operations and cash flows would have been significant, with inevitable and obvious consequences for workers. As a result, and in order to ensure that the long term interests of the workers were protected, the Central Government injected large amounts into the industry by way of onlending and other financial arrangements.
Minister Singh cited three examples of the Central Government injecting resources into Guysuco to finance recent investments. Firstly, Government injected US$5.1 million to finance a drainage and irrigation project that aimed to improve water management systems on Guysuco’s estates in Berbice and Demerara. Secondly, Government injected a total of US$113.1 million into the Skeldon sugar factory, augmenting other public sector resources, for the purposes of ensuring the construction of a modern and efficient, state-of-the-art factory, designed to reduce significantly the unit cost of producing sugar. The total cost of that factory was in excess of US$180 million. More recently,government provided US$12 million to finance construction of a packaging plant at Enmore. The contract for this project was signed earlier this year. When completed, this plant will better enable the company to produce value-added output and, thereby, penetrate more lucrative markets.

All of these investments, Minister Singh emphasised, reflect the great importance attached to the sugar industry by Government, an importance that is informed by both the historical significance of the sector to our country and Government’s recognition of the important contribution that a modernised and competitive sugar sector can make to the economy going forward. For the latter to be realised, it is imperative that all stakeholders recognise the challenges confronting the industry and discharge their respective roles in a manner that will ensure that these challenges are overcome.