`KING Sugar’ is the monarch who commanded the presence of most of the ancestors of Guyanese and although his crown is currently resting a little shakily, the government is expending massive resources to ensure that the major industry in Guyana is not dethroned, despite being assailed from many sides. At a meeting in Berbice, President Bharrat Jagdeo told sugar workers that his government is aware of the importance of the industry to the social and economic well-being of the country and the people. It is the top national employer and the largest economic activity, and without sugar there would be a major contraction in the economy, as well as in all the spin-off benefits accruing through related economic pursuits, such as persons who provide service to the industry.
Stating that his government is committed to ensuring that this industry prospers, the President reminded his audience that last year Guyana faced the full impact of the 36% price cuts on sugar from the European Union. This is equivalent to losing an approximate $9 billion annually, with full effect from this year.
However, according to the President, Guyana already had a plan in place for the revival of the industry and has invested over $40 billion – the largest single public investment in the history of the country — to ensure the survival of the sugar industry, despite the prognostications of the doomsayers and naysayers.
At that forum, he spoke about the difficulties encountered by GuySuCo, which include teething pains at the new Skeldon factory and problems with cane supply – compounded by erratic weather patterns caused by the climate change phenomena and labour disputes, to the extent that the production of sugar suffered significantly last year as a consequence of these negative and debilitating factors.
The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring the industry remains viable and spoke scathingly of persons who make flippant remarks about the sugar industry and its turnaround plan, especially its diversification programme, which some advocate should be total – with sugar being totally abandoned as an industry per se.
He explained that these persons do not recognise how hard it would be for a country to diversify away from its main source of income, particularly speaking in the context of the sugar belt, where lives and livings revolve around the sugar industry – either directly or indirectly, and its demise would mean social and financial dislocations of a great magnitude in large sections of Guyana’s labour force.
While mismanagement has unquestionably contributed to the decline of the industry, which is being addressed, this is not the major cause, because other anomalies impacting on the sugar industry worldwide have to be factored in, and the magnitude of difficulties being faced by the government to sustain the viability of the industry has not been comprehended by most people, judging from comments being made, mainly by persons with political agendas.
And the labour force needs to also comprehend that until the industry stabilises through these interventions by the government, the cooperation from everyone is essential for graphs of the sector to project upwards.
The $2.2 billion new packaging plant at Enmore, a further investment of $4 billion into the sector, which has also incidentally boosted the housing sector programme for low-cost housing, and a subsequent $1.4 billion in additional financing, is indicative of the government’s commitment to the sector and its optimism in its future.
Other sugar producing countries in the hemisphere have buckled and given up on their sugar sectors as a result of the EU price cuts.  However, the Guyana administration is not prepared to go that route because of the severe socio-economic dislocations it would cause the thousands of Guyanese families who are dependent – either directly or indirectly,  on the production; hence the GuySuCo strategic plan.