-substantial sums will have to be spent due to ‘neglect’, says Agri. Minister

SUGAR, an industry once heralded as the ‘back bone’ of Guyana’s economy, was neglected and downsized by the former APNU+AFC administration to the detriment of not just thousands of sugar workers, but the equipment which will now cost the new People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government large sums of money to replace and reconfigure.
In 2017, the former coalition government had announced the closure of four sugar estates – Rose Hall, Skeldon, Enmore and Wales – leaving close to 7,000 persons without a job or source of income.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), “in its glory days,” was referred to as the backbone of Guyana’s economy, as the company employed roughly 16,000 persons; it was a major source of foreign currency, and a provider of community healthcare, drainage services, and welfare facilities.
The industry has since been reduced to a level of insolvency and instability, but the new government believes there is still hope, although there are production challenges relating to low productivity, high cost of production, lack of competitiveness and poor management.

In the next five years, starting with Budget 2020, the government plans to implement measures to promote a diversified agriculture-based economy, create more jobs, and increase the income of farmers.
The task ahead is no easy one for the current administration, as millions of dollars in equipment were left to deteriorate, rendering them inoperable or in some cases repairable, but at a ‘hefty’ cost.

During a recent walkabout at some of the shuttered estates in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), the Guyana Chronicle observed rusted equipment, boxes accumulating dust and inoperable machines, which authorities said, are only suited for a “scrapyard.”

In some cases where machines could be fixed or replaced, it would cost millions of dollars. These costs include replacement of a boiler at the shuttered Rose Hall Sugar Estate, which recently started preparation for the cultivation of sugarcane.

While the estate has already rehired close to 170 persons, there are infrastructural issues such as a leaking roof, dilapidated platforms and inoperable chimneys and molasses tanks and factory pumps, which need to be replaced, said Engineer attached to GuySuCo, Vijay Goberdan, in a recent report.

This is just a microcosm of the amount of work needed on not just Rose Hall, but the two other estates which are being reopened by the government.
“The estates were ruined…Enmore is in the most serious state than all, then Skeldon…they allowed Skeldon to deteriorate because of weather and the general abandonment of this estate without protection,” said Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, during a recent telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

The general perception was that the sugar industry was neglected and left to ‘rot’ because it employs mainly supporters of the PPP/C, something which was deemed spurious by authorities.
Minister Mustapha, however, said this perception was no excuse to leave those estates in the state they are in.

At the Skeldon Estate, an expensive diffuser system and the punt dumper were left to deteriorate; these pieces of equipment are said to be costly to replace.
Speaking specifically about the diffuser system, Minister Mustapha said: “It was the only one in the country…it was new technology used like what is being used in South Africa and the technology gave us good returns in terms of tonnes cane to tonnes sugar.

“It was neglected by the last administration…they allowed it to deteriorate…it was in a very advanced stage of damage from what we observed recently.”
He further added: “So I think that now as we are going through, we are finding a lot of faults and a lot of problems and we have to replace a lot of parts…a number of parts will have to be replaced, like the carrier, the boiler, important components in the factories… we have to replace those things and replace components in the factory.”
The resuscitation of those estates will cost a substantial amount, and while the Minister did not reveal a figure, he said it is a tall task.

The Government has already released $3B to bail out GuySuCo, of which $2.2B will be used for the re-opening of the three estates and the remaining $0.8B will be used to re-capitalise the current assets to help achieve outlined objectives.

It was reported that the Rose Hall Estate will be the first of the three estates to be re-opened and is expected to begin grinding in 2022.
Chief Executive Officer (ag), Sasenarine Singh, was reported recently as saying: “GuySuCo is on a change plan. We have refashioned the way we are doing things. We have re-engineered the way we are thinking at GuySuCo.

“The whole vision at GuySuCo right now is to move up the value chain as fast as we can within the constraints of finances, and, in addition to that, we are opening three estates so it’s going up and it’s going broader.”

The short-term plan, he explained is seeking to move up the value chain by moving towards more value-added products such as packaged sugar while the medium-term plans are to engage in private/public partnerships to enhance the value-added content.
Word of the estate’s reopening and intended innovation has already “bred new hope” into residents of nearby communities, who were once gainfully employed by the facility or benefitted indirectly through small businesses.