— GAWU lauds PPP/C efforts to restore, support sugar industry
THE Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has welcomed what it describes as a $16.4 billion “full rescue mission” for the sugar industry, even as it vowed to hold management’s “feet to the fire” to ensure that taxpayers’ money is translated into real improvements for workers and estates.
Delivering a tribute to the Enmore Martyrs at a commemorative ceremony on Tuesday, GAWU President Seepaul Narine framed the current turnaround efforts in sugar as historic.
Recalling what he termed the “dark days” of 2015–2020, Narine accused the former A Partnership National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration of launching “a vicious attack on the sugar industry” by closing the Wales, Skeldon, Enmore and Rose Hall estates and sending more than 7,000 workers onto the breadline.
He said families were reduced to one meal a day, children were forced out of school, and some displaced workers turned to alcohol and, in a few cases, suicide.
According to Narine, the PPP/C government’s return to office “stopped the destruction” and paved the way for the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate in Berbice, which he described as a key step towards recovery and renewed confidence in sugar.
Turning to the current policy thrust, the GAWU President highlighted that in Budget 2026, the government allocated $13.4 billion to the sugar industry for modernisation, mechanisation, factory upgrades and expanded value-added production.
He pointed out that this was followed by a supplementary budget which allocated an additional $3 billion to GuySuCo, taking the total allocation for 2026 to $16.4 billion.
“This is not just support; this is a full rescue mission. This is the PPP government demonstrating that it will not let the sugar industry die under its watch,” Narine declared, rejecting critics who dismiss sugar as a sunset industry.
“They want to import sugar; we want to export sugar. They see a dead industry; we see an agro industrial hub rising from the ashes,” he added.
Narine backed his defence of the sector with production figures, reporting that first crop output moved from 15,954 tonnes of sugar in 2025 to 19,031 tonnes in 2026, an increase of 3,077 tonnes or 19.3 per cent.
He insisted that with such significant state support, GuySuCo’s management “can do better and must do better”, warning that “every dollar must be spent wisely on fixing broken factories, on training our workers, on maintaining equipment and on improving efficiency.”
“We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past, where monies disappear without a trace,” he cautioned.
