THE recent announcement by GuySuCo that the Albion/Port Mourant Estate has surpassed its production target for the fourth week is welcoming news for the industry which is being repositioned to return to profitability.
It is probably safe to say that the Albion/Port Mourant Estate, the largest of all the sugar estates in Guyana, is not only taking the lead in production, but also leading by example in terms of teamwork to achieve set targets.
The 80 per cent turn out by workers is a demonstration of the positive impact of what could happen when the workers collectively put their shoulders to the wheels of production.
The survival of the industry will require similar and better performance from the workers, consistently, throughout the industry.
However, it is important to note that the senior management of GuySuCo and the workers and their unions must work as a cohesive unit in order for sugar to again become a force to be reckoned with.
It goes without saying that this should become the new culture of the industry since in time past, poor management-worker relationship exacerbated the problems of GuySuCo.

The need to work as a team and building strong management-worker relationship cannot be overstated. It was only a few years ago, on assuming power, the Coalition Government swiftly moved against the recommendations of a commission of inquiry it had commissioned on the industry and closed four estates, namely Skeldon, Rose Hall, Enmore and Wales.
In doing so, more than 7,000 sugar workers were placed on the breadline. During this time, many encountered severe hardships and, in many instances, families could not have afforded to send their children to school.
On returning to power, after having to endure five long months following the attempts by the then APNU+AFC Government to rig the 2020 elections, the People’s Progressive Party Government, against all odds, moved ahead with its promise to reopen the estates shuttered by the Coalition.
Today, many struggling sugar workers and businesses affected by the decision of the Coalition Government are returning to a better life, thanks to the investments by the current government to put sugar back on the path of economic viability.
While the government was able to reopen the Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore estates, it was unable to do the same for the Wales Estate, which was heavily vandalised, but alternative systems are being put in place to benefit the affected workers and communities.
The work done by the current government to lift the sugar industry out of the perilous state it degenerated to under the Coalition Government could hardly go unnoticed.

In less than a year, the investments in this regard have been manifold. In 2020, GuySuCo was allocated a sum of $7 billion; $3 billion was used to recapitalise the Rose Hall, Skeldon, and Enmore sugar estates while the remaining $4 billion was allocated to support rehabilitation works at the Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion sugar estates.
A further $2 billion was included in Budget 2021 for capital works to be carried out at the various sugar estates across the country.
More recently, it was reported that over $50M was expended on repairs at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate, West Coast Demerara, and this, along with good management-worker relations, has resulted in the estate performing above average.
This aside, the government through GuySuCo has also introduced the Weekly Production Incentive (WPI) which was unceremoniously discontinued by the Coalition Government.
Here again, some 7,000 workers are set to benefit from this scheme in the form of one day’s pay once the estate, in which they work, surpassed its weekly production target.

It was great to see many workers, who worked diligently for their respective estates, receiving this benefit, including Sachin Sooknandan of the Albion Sugar Estate, who did not shy away from expressing his delight, saying thusly:
“I just received a day’s pay, and this is something real good, and it will benefit me and my family. It will be better for us; we are going to be more motivated, because my partners are already talking about working harder to make the day’s pay. This is real nice, and we are glad if it can continue, so it will benefit the people in the country. I feel real good what the government is doing, and what we getting right now is real good.”
Also, from GuySuCo’s end, more focus is being placed on packaged sugar and efforts are being made to pay greater attention on valued-added.
Undoubtedly, the industry is on the move and while the government is doing its part, it is also important that the workers and management work as a cohesive team to lift the industry out of its current state, a task, though challenging, is not one out of their reach.