PLANS for the Wales Sugar Estate are to be unveiled next month, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Raphael Trotman told a news conference on Wednesday.

Trotman told reporters gathered at a post-cabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency, that while transforming the location into an aquaculture farm is one option, a detailed report will be made public next month.

“Insofar as Wales is concerned, aquaculture is but one…I went through the documents and I can tell you that interest has been expressed, for example using the factory and the equipment there to generate electricity. There are many options there on the table…aquaculture being but one,” he stated.

Trotman noted that a new road is to be built there along with new housing schemes and industrial sites are to be established there so that “factories and the facilities will become very attractive.”

The Government in January announced the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate, noting that it is projected to lose between $1.6B and $1.9B in 2016, and requires extensive repairs to remain operable following years of neglect.

“Diverting funds from the other estates to keep Wales afloat would seriously jeopardise the future of these estates. This cannot be allowed to happen,” the statement on the closure had said, noting that “It is impossible to make sugar production at Wales viable.”

The estate will be closed at the end of the 2016 second crop and with effect from 2017, farmers’ canes will be milled at the Uitvlugt factory. During this year, the routing of farmers’ canes to Uitvlugt would be determined to ensure the least additional cost. It was also noted that the Wales workers would be utilised by Uitvlugt up to the extent of suitable vacancies at that location. The announcement by the Government of the closure of the Wales estate had sparked several protests by workers.

The workers had called on government to immediately reverse its decision. Despite their public chants “Don’t close Wales”, no government official has met with the aggrieved workers. When asked on Wednesday whether the subject Minister Noel Holder intends to meet with the workers of the Wales Estate, Trotman said, “At some point in time, yes.”

He told the media that Cabinet is of the view that the Ministry of Agriculture and the minister has a political function but it (Cabinet) does not want to interfere with the functions of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO).

“GUYSUCO has been a very sensitive place, not just now but for hundreds of years and we believe that the board is made up of good, strong technocrats, but at the end of the day there is still a political function and the minister will at some time in the near future be addressing the workers’ concerns.”

Meanwhile, Trotman said the move to integrate the La Bonne Intention (LBI) and Enmore Sugar Estates was done to reduce the cost of production. He said Cabinet was briefed by Agriculture Minister Holder on the integration of the two estates into one production entity. Holder, he said, had outlined the reason behind the merging of the estates, noting that it was necessary to prevent sugar production on the East Demerara from coming to a halt in the future.

“It was also pointed out that the closure of the LBI factory in 2011 resulted in the retention of many workers who were rendered redundant. For example, GuySuco has been paying 58 workers to operate a mill dock facility at LBI for the past five years, while the facility is no longer being required,” Trotman noted.

The LBI estate has 846 employees and of the total approximately 125 of them are carrying out duplicate functions that are being undertaken by employees at the Enmore estate. These include mill-dock operators, field workshops, field laboratory, field office and stores.

“The integration of the two estates will therefore rationalise the duplicated activities, thus rendering the cost of production lower,” the Natural Resources and Environment Minister stated. The LBI factory was closed in 2011 and the merging of those operations were expected to commence immediately, however, the integration process did not materialise.