THE days of rainfall did not stop harvesting of sugar canes, although it made for a slower pace of work, according to Chief Industrial Relations Officer, James Sukhu.“The rains hampered our work, but we continued harvesting. We have had about two days of sunshine and if we have a good weekend, harvesting will be back to normal, back in full swing next week,” he said in a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

He added that to date production of sugar stands at 22,500 tonnes.
“We are a little behind the target we set for ourselves, but harvesting has not stopped,” Sukhu assured.
Asked about the strength of the labour force, he noted that in the factories there is a 85 per cent turnout, while in the fields, the turnout is approximately 63 per cent.
“The field worker turnout is not what we wanted because of the rains,” the Chief Industrial Relations Officer said.
Questioned about the factories in operation, Sukhu stated that seven of the eight factories are in operation, the exception being the Skeldon Sugar estate.
“Skeldon was expected to start grinding today (yesterday),” he said.
In addition to Skeldon, GuySuCo’s seven other estates are located at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara; Wales, West Bank Demerara; Enmore and La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara; Rose Hall and Albion on the Corentyne Coast in East Berbice; and Blairmont, West Bank Berbice.
The cycle of the current sugar crop comes to an end in early May.
In 2014, GuySuCo recorded a production of 216,147 tonnes – the first crop having surpassed the 75,000-tonne target, bringing in about 80,000 tonnes.
The calamitous drop in sugar prices on the global and preferred market scene, which challenges all sugar industries, coupled with the dramatic fall in earnings and, by extension, cash flow; and the prevailing weather conditions were among several of the difficulties that affected the local sugar industry during 2014.
The industry saw a dismal sugar production level in the past years, but Guyana has since been taking steps to turn around its sugar industry, and hopes to soon meet a 300,000-tonne target. There is also a projection that the sector would reach a 400,000-tonne goal by 2020.
The production being targeted by GuySuCo for 2015 is some 240,000 tonnes. (Vanessa Narine)