GOVERNMENT is continuing its deliberations on the future of the sugar industry and the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO), Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced on Friday.

During a post-cabinet press briefing the Minister of State said Cabinet continued discussions on the future of GUYSCUO and the sugar industry in respect to the sugar estates being retained and the portions of the industry that are being divested.

As a result, Cabinet, he disclosed engaged the Board of Directors and management of GUYSUCO to obtain an updated position on the future plans of the Corporation so that it can return to a state of efficiency and financial viability. Cabinet also had deliberations with the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) established to manage the divestment of the Skeldon Factory and other Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) assets.

“Both entities, the management of GUYSUCO, as well as the SPU outlined plans and recommendations relating to their respective roles and responsibilities,” said Harmon who noted that Cabinet thereafter deliberated on the decisions that should be made in the interest of the stakeholders and the future of the sugar industry.

In the initial stage, the SPU’s primary function would be to lead the privatisation and divestment process for the Skeldon Factory. Other functions of the Unit would also include the process of valuation, marketing, advertising and the drafting of legal framework. As time progresses, the unit would assist GUYSUCO in the identification of other properties to be privatised.

“The proposed courses of action are to amalgamate [merge] Wales Estate with Uitvlugt Estate and reassign its cane to the Uitvlugt factory, since the estate is operating at 50 percent capacity. Sixty percent of its drainage and irrigation infrastructure is in a dilapidated condition. The corporation furthermore seeks to divest itself of the Skeldon Estate. The estates of Albion and Rose Hall are to be amalgamated and the factory at Rose Hall is to be closed.”

Unfortunately, he said those deliberations were incomplete and are expected to continue and be concluded at the next Cabinet meeting slated for Tuesday, January 2, 2018.

“…It is such an important matter that we want to ensure that we come to the right decision,” assured the Minister of State.

Back in May, the government through its White Paper on Sugar stated that GUYSUCO would have three estates and three sugar factories: Blairmont on the West Bank Berbice, Albion-Rose Hall in East Berbice and the Uitvlugt-Wales estate in West Demerara.

The three estates will be complete with factories and will have cane supplied from all five locations. By virtue of the amalgamation, the Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Rose Hall, Berbice factories will be closed by year-end. In the case of Enmore, that factory will be closed at the end of the year when all cane would have been harvested and the East Coast Estates would be earmarked for diversification. As a result, GUYSUCO has retrenched thousands of sugar workers. Government has since said that a “huge chunk” of money has been allocated in the 2018 National Budget for retrenched sugar workers.

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder told reporters recently that the affected workers will receive their severance packages sometime in January, 2018.