– Agriculture Minister says
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Tuesday said that the Rose Hall Sugar Estate will be one of the most productive estates in the country again and that the government will continue to make significant investments to keep the estate alive.

The minister made this disclosure during the 70th sitting of the 12th parliament as the Parliamentary committee of supply passed supplementary funding to provide wages and salaries for workers under the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
Some $643 million was approved for wages and salaries as it was noted that this came about as the Rose Hall estate was reopened and over 540 new employees were brought on.

Further to this, the agriculture minister said that these persons were employed as a result of the mechanisation programme which was started at the estate.

To this end, he stated that when they were looking at the revitalisation of the Rose Hall estate, a target was set to possibly produce some 5,000 tonnes of sugar. However, he added that officials further discovered that the field was left abandoned and became overgrown.

Against this backdrop, Mustapha told the committee that because they were trying to push the mechanisation system, persons had to be employed and since then the estate has produced over 1,000 tonnes of sugar.

“So now we are doing the mechanisation and I know for a fact that Rose Hall will be one of the most productive estates again in GuySuCo,” Mustapha declared.
To this end, the minister further revealed that the estate that was closed by the former administration is now producing again and the government is working to rebuild the estate.

As such, he reported that the estate is currently running effectively as all parts have been rehabilitated and as a result, the estate is expected to make a profit shortly.

Added to this, Mustapha told the house that the government wants to keep GuySuCo alive as it is the single largest employer of people in the country and as such the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration will continue to maintain the company.

In September of this year, the Rose Hall Estate which was closed in 2020 was reopened and recommenced the grinding of sugar cane which marked a revival in the region’s sugar industry.
The reopening of the factory was said to bring about substantial economic benefits and employment opportunities in the region.