– Workers of East Demerara estates told

Agriculture plays a pertinent role in the economic viability of Guyana and a key contributory sector is the sugar industry. The performance of the sugar industry is reflected in the growth of the economy and as a means of sustaining the industry as well as the country, Ministers of Government, board members, managers and employees of the various estates have been gathering to discuss the future of the industry.

Wednesday Ministers of Agriculture, Finance, and Labour, Robert Persaud, Dr. Ashni Singh and Manzoor Nadir, respectively, GuySuCo Board member, Donald Ramoutar, the Chairman ,Dr. Nanda Gopaul and Chief Executive Officer, Errol Hanoman, along with other management personnel, met employees of the Enmore and La Bonne Intention sugar estates at the Enmore and La Bonne Intention Community Centres.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation’s turn-around plan focuses on fostering increased productivity, enhancing technology and bettering the interpersonal relations between management and employees. This plan is necessary for the growth of the industry since GuySuCo no longer benefits from the European Union Preferential price for sugar.

Minister Persaud noted that Government had anticipated that the European Union would have cut preferential treatment with respect to sugar and as such the Administration had begun discussions since in the 1990s to develop a strategy for the future of the industry.

Minister Singh emphasised that to adjust to the realities of the ending of the preferential agreement, Government had embarked upon investing monies into the industry which saw the establishment of the Skeldon Sugar Factory, better drainage and irrigation structures, and packaging plants.

The aim of those investments was to equip the industry to achieve competitive advantage which is necessary in a globalised market. He noted that those investments will aid the industry to produce more, reduce cost and increase value added.

The packaging factory at Blairmont has been seeing returns that are off-setting some of the loss incurred by the cut in the preferential agreement, and as such Government has signed a contract for the establishment of a packaging factory at Enmore estate, Ramoutar said.

He noted that the industry is also focusing on cutting costs by utilising the by- products of the sugar cane. It was indicated that molasses will be used by the corporation to make ethanol fuel for the operations of GuySuCo. In addition, bagasse will be utilised to produce electricity at Skeldon, Enmore and Blairmont.

Ramoutar indicated that the industry will also be refining sugar which will enable the entity to tap into the Caribbean market where sugar production has been

reduced.
Nonetheless, GuySuCo will have to boost production so as to gain a larger margin in the global market sinc
e there is a shortage of 10 million tonnes of raw sugar on the world market, Dr. Gopaul noted. He emphasized that this will be the opportune time to access the market since the price for sugar has moved from 11 cents to 28 cents.

Such actions will help to cushion the effects of losing the US$40M in revenue from the European Union price cut. He noted that the industry will not retrench any workers with the difficult path ahead, but will encourage them to produce more so that the industry will grow.

Hanoman noted that 2009 was a difficult year for GuySuCo but there were still some significant achievements. One of those was the approval of the turn-around plan which will be implemented this year.

Although there were difficulties in the first crop during 2009 at Enmore Estate, the entity was able to secure high production in the second crop which contributed largely to the industry and has seen Enmore estate producing extremely well.

He noted that rehabilitation of crops is central to the initiative and 2012 will see rehabilitation of cultivation. In addition, the factories will be rehabilitated to increase productivity.

Employees of the Enmore and La Bonne Intention estates, during discussions with officials, indicated that they are willing to work towards achieving the growth of the industry; however, they expressed concerns about increase in wages and salaries even though they received a 3% increase last year.

In response to the wages matter, Minister Persaud noted that remuneration is dependent on production. He noted that increase in production at a low cost will lead to an increase in wages. This plan which is looking to boost production will somewhat enable the industry to meet the needs of the entity.

The Minister however, noted that employees have to cooperate with the corporation in cutting cost by being honest about work done and also by managing resources such as fertilisers given to them.

He expressed optimism that there is a bright future for sugar and that better days for the sugar industry are ahead. (GINA)