Written by Nadine Sanchara
WITH much improved weather conditions, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) is expected to achieve its second crop target of 150,000 tonnes which, according to Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, would be an “excellent production”.The local sugar industry has been encountering several difficulties and has been struggling to meet its production targets. While many have blamed GUYSUCO’s problems on management issues, Ramsammy has been adamant that the major factor behind the corporation’s poor production is the weather.

Due to a change in weather pattern, factories have not been allowed to produce to full capacity and this has been reflected in recent production figures.
Nevertheless, in a recent interview the minister related that sugar factories around the country have been meeting their weekly targets for the second crop.
He said that now that the weather has improved significantly, it is hoped that some of the operation time lost in July, August and September will be made up. These months, usually are expected to be fairly dry, but were very wet instead.
For instance, the month of August is usually one of the driest months of the year, but this August has proven to be one of the wettest months of 2013 with some 20 days of rainfall.
This has had an impact on production, particularly at the Skeldon sugar factory, which was scheduled to commence operations on August 5, but did not get to do so until the end of August.
In addition, the Uitvlugt Factory had started its second-crop operations, but was forced to suspend work because of constant rainfall and had resumed at a later date.
However, the current weather conditions are ideal for sugar production and all factories are in operation. As such, Ramsammy said that he is confident that the second crop target will be met.
Moreover, he stated that it is hoped that this target will be surpassed so as to make up for some of the losses of the first crop, which ended in May of this year with a production of  some 48,000 tonnes, significantly less than the its initial target of 71,000 tonnes.
The minister advised that about 140,000 tonnes of sugar have been produced so far for the year. He noted also that production for the current crop is approaching 100,000 tonnes, and if the weather permits, it is expected that some 220,000 tonnes of sugar will be produced for the year be the end of the second crop.
“I am still hopeful that with the production they have, that we will reach 220,000 tonnes for the year. If that is achieved it means that we would have done approximately 170,000 tonnes for this second crop. With the loss of most of July and August, and a significant part of September, many people had said that we would not reach. However, I still believe that the good weather in October, as we are now seeing, and in November, if we are able to extend the grinding season closer to Christmas we will make up the time and therefore be able to produce around 170,000 tonnes,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the minister related that the Skeldon Sugar Factory continues to improve its production, even though the remedial work done by South African firm, Bosch Engineering did not yield the anticipated results.
The Skeldon factory had initially been touted as the flagship of the sugar industry but has been plagued with several issues affecting its efficient functioning since its commission in 2009. Bosch Engineering was contracted to modify the factory, and remedial works were completed prior to the commencement of the first crop of 2013.
According to Ramsammy, the factory continues to have some teething problems, but some of the work done by Bosch has resulted in improvement.
“Is it what we want? The answer is still no but it is improving steadily and I do believe that the production this year from Skeldon will exceed their last year production,” he remarked.
He further stated that while the remedial works have not resulted in the kind of improvement that was anticipated, it might be too early to draw a definite conclusion since the factory is now, for the first time since the work was done, operating with good weather.
“So we need to give it a chance for a few more weeks of good weather and see what the production looks like,” the minister said.
Ramsammy had recently confirmed, as was announced by President Donald Ramotar, that the board of GUYSUCO will soon be reconstituted.
He noted that this matter is currently at the cabinet level where candidates for the various positions are being discussed and considered. He added that as soon as this is finalised, a new board of directors for the corporation will be announced.
In a previous interview, the minister had advised that there will be changes at both board and management levels of GuySuCo, and further explained that at management level, there will be two kinds of changes – shifting around of some management personnel as well as structural changes.