THE Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) factories at Uitvlugt, Wales, Enmore and LaBonne Intention (LBI) have commenced operations for the first crop for 2013, and the other factories are expected to follow suit shortly. In a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Paul Bhim, GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO),

related that the completed out-of-crop maintenance of the factories mentioned above has been completed, and the exercise went fairly well; but maintenance of the factories at Rose Hall, Albion, Blairmont and Skeldon is still ongoing.

He disclosed that a punt dumper has recently been installed at Enmore at a cost of approximately $100 million, and this machine started working yesterday and will allow for mechanized harvesting of canes for the LBI and Enmore estates.

Bhim advised that the Rose Hall and Albion estates in Berbice will begin operations this Saturday, while Blairmont and Skeldon should start grinding by February 23 and March 16 respectively.

He noted that modification works ongoing at the Skeldon factory are progressing smoothly, and the factory should begin operating shortly after the works have been completed.

The South African firm Bosch has been contracted to execute the modifications — fixing problems the factory had been experiencing.

When the Skeldon factory was commissioned in 2009, it had been touted as the flagship of the sugar industry; however, since it became operational, there have been several issues affecting its efficient functioning. Nevertheless, it did experience episodes of exceptional performance during periods of good weather conditions; but the modifications are expected to make it even more efficient.

In a recent interview with the state media, Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had stated that the modifications by Bosch Engineering would increase the efficiency and capacity of the factory from the present 60 percent to between 70 and 75 percent.
He had also indicated that GuySuCo would be completing some additional modifications to the Skeldon factory with its own cash flow. The minister has now said that after all remedial works to the estate have been completed, efficiency of the factory should be boosted to between 85 and 90 percent.

CEO Bhim has advised that the engineers would still be present when the factory starts grinding, so that they can ensure that all goes well.

The CEO mentioned that the sugar industry is thankful for the little rainfall it has experienced of recent, because available irrigation water is limited; but he said that too much rain is not good for the industry, because it hinders harvesting. He noted that areas where mechanized cane harvesting obtains, such as at Enmore, are mostly affected by rain.

Bhim has disclosed that the corporation would be obtaining additional canes from private farmers. He revealed that this initiative has just started at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, where some 500,000 hectares of land have recently been handed over to farmers for cane cultivation. He added that those canes would be available for sugar production late this year or early next year.

Bhim advised that the annual production target for this year has been set at 260,000 tonnes, but individual targets for each crop have not been made final as yet; but
President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, claimed in an interview with this publication yesterday that the target for the first crop has been set at 71,665 tonnes, which according to him is the lowest set target since 1991.

He revealed that the Skeldon factory is scheduled to operate for four weeks; Albion seven weeks; Rose Hall six weeks; Blairmont eight weeks; Enmore ten weeks; Wales nine weeks, and Uitvlugt six weeks. He said this is an average of approximately seven weeks, while a first crop should normally run for about 12 weeks.  

Chand cited the insufficient supply of sugar canes as the reason for such a short first crop; and he stressed that this is not encouraging for workers in the sugar industry.

He related that while last year’s production was affected by some rainfall, the main reason for the poor production was the limited amount of canes. He advised that some of this crop’s cane had to be reaped in order to boost the production.

According to him, this was not a wise decision, because when cane is reaped before its ideal maturity, the sucrose content is less; hence sugar cannot be produced to the full capacity of the cane. Nevertheless, Chand stated that private farming of sugar cane could help the industry by providing additional canes to factories.

“It is something that the union has no objection to, because it can help the industry to improve its production,” he said.

He emphasized that when the sugar industry does not do well, it has an effect on the industry itself, the workers, and the country’s economy.