– CEO Paul Bhim
…worker turnout boosts production; 26,000 tonnes ground so far
NEVER before has the Guyana Sugar Corporation been able to send off 20,000 tonnes of sugar to Europe this early in the crop as happened this year, according to CEO of the entity, Paul Bhim. Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, Bhim said that in late January and early February, two shipments of 10,000 each left for Europe, reflecting the improvement in production brought about by workers turning out to work in larger numbers. “We want to thank the workers for this,” he said, adding that the improved turnout has resulted in increased production.
Commenting on the recent spate of rains, the CEO said that although this had a small effect on production, “we struggled a bit [because of the rain], but even with the rain, [there was] fairly good turnout on the estates.”
“We commend the workers,” he said. “It shows that they are interested in getting the crop out of the ground,” said Bhim.
Deputy CEO of GuySuCo, Rajaindra Singh, had said on Friday that the corporation was at that time still awaiting the coming to fruition of the $1B assistance package from the Government of Guyana.
Singh spoke to the Guyana Chronicle at Skeldon on Friday during the opening of GuySuCo’s second of eight computer training centres for sugar workers to be opened at all estates.
Further, he said that the corporation has produced over 21,000 tonnes of sugar as of last Thursday.
“With the 21,000 tonnes, we are above what we would have budgeted for this point in time for this crop, and that is with only five estates working. Enmore has not come on, Wales will come on this weekend, and Skeldon actually came on this week,” said Singh. He said that Skeldon and Uitvlugt are below target.
Singh explained that the Enmore delays are due to the ongoing works to complete the packaging plant and production will begin there at the end of February, while Wales is to start this week. He explained that because of the bad weather, Skeldon could not start since the conditions on the ground are not suitable for the operation of the mechanical harvesters.
The Deputy CEO said that during the period, labour turnout had been excellent. He said that Albion, Blairmont and Rose Hall are “producing like mad, their turnout is great, and they have gone past their target; I think that there is great momentum.” He said unfortunately for the last two days the rains have come and put a damper on that momentum.
Speaking on the financial woes that the company is in, Singh said the corporation has not yet finalised a US$17M facility for crop financing from Citibank, which has replaced ING Bank, which, according to Singh, pulled out of the region. GuySuCo should be accessing that financing facility this week.
Singh explained that at the beginning of each crop GuySuCo would apply for funding from a bank “to take you through the out of crop. We used to have the ING Bank, [but] they have withdrawn, from the region actually, and we have now got an arrangement with Citibank and that is in the final stages of being signed off.” Singh said that GuySuCo still has an outstanding debt stock of $2.5B.
GuySuCo will use some of the Citibank funding money to pay off creditors and to address its cash flow needs as the crop progresses.
Contacted yesterday for a comment on the improvement in labour relations, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, declined to speak to this newspaper.
During the budget speech, Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, had announced that GuySuCo’s priorities in 2011 are to increase cane availability with expanded acreage under cultivation and to get more private cane farmers to join the efforts. The minister said also that the mechanisation process would also be advanced with the acquisition of new equipment.
According to the minister, GuySuCo is expected during this year to incur capital expenditure of $4.3 billion on these efforts, which, taken in totality, will help the corporation to recover production levels and restore financial performance. The production target for 2011 is 298,879 tonnes, 35.3 percent above the 2010 level of production.