IN light of calls from sugar workers for an increase in wages and salaries, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, has said that the decision to grant an increase is left on the Board of Directors of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

“Sugar workers come under a board and they will have to deal with the realities of the corporation,” said Minister Jordan during an interview on the sidelines of Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit & Exhibition (GIPEX) at the Marriott Hotel, on Wednesday.

Jordan said although GuySuCo is a state corporation, it has to be “commercially run” and “profitably engaged.”

Workers of the Albion and Blairmont Sugar Estates had recently conducted picketing exercises, calling for an increase in wages and salaries but the management of GuySuCo has not yet responded to those requests. In the past, it was reported that increases were not given because the sugar industry had to be reassessed and restructured in order to return to profitability. Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, had said, within the first 20 months of assuming office, the coalition Government had advanced a total of $32B to save the jobs and livelihoods of sugar workers.

In an effort to save the industry, Government had implemented a divestment plan which, according to Minister Jordan, has slowed down because of the current political environment.

“Hopefully after the elections we can accelerate it because it has been difficult to sell land of any size in this period…some investors are wary concluding deals now because of threats and so on of reexamination and so,” said Minister Jordan.

He said no further deals will be made because Government cannot commit to signing any major deals in the current political environment.

Early this year, President David Granger had said that the sugar industry was being restructured so that it can be revived. “Our sugar industry is going to recover from the difficulties it is facing. This sugar industry is not on the point of death…I am not here to bury the sugar industry. I am here to find out what your problems are. I have come to fix things. We are in the process of restructuring this industry to respond to changes, which have taken place both externally and internally.

“It is being restructured so that it can be revived; so that we can make this industry not just sustainable but profitable. We are not here to merely survive; we are here to thrive! We are here to guarantee employees’ livelihoods. We are here to guarantee sugar’s position in the national economy. We are here to safeguard the rural economy,” said the President.
Despite criticisms, since 2015 the APNU+AFC administration has been doing its utmost to ensure the industry thrives. Following the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the industry, a task force was established to develop recommendations on its restructuring after which, a State Paper on the ‘Future of the Sugar Industry’, was presented to the National Assembly.
He said that a Corporate Restructuring Plan (CRP) was initiated following these processes and a part of the plan is to produce 147,000 metric tonnes of sugar in the shortest possible time.

President Granger believes that the CRP is at the heart of the revitalisation of the sugar industry and the Corporation projects that, with effective agricultural management and through capital investments, it can lower production costs to about US$0.40 per kg, making the industry more viable and profitable.

Additionally, the corporation’s short-term plans involve the rehabilitation of field infrastructure; the modernisation of production including cost-effective mechanisation; the retooling of factories including energy-efficient equipment and technologies; and increasing milling and other processing capacities.