THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has surpassed its production target for 2015 by over 300 tonnes, as of yesterday. And, with three estates still grinding, the Corporation is likely to see a significant increase in sugar, production.
Those estates are Albion and Rose Hall in Berbice, and Enmore on the East Coast, which are expected to continue operating until December 21.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the second-crop target, which was set at 146,300 tonnes, had reached 146,583 tonnes by yesterday morning.
That effectively put production target for the year, which was set at 227,443 tonnes, at 227, 727 tonnes to date.
It’s a feat Chief Executive Officer Mr. Errol Hanoman attributes to the dedication and hard work of both workforce and management. “The team of management and workers has done a superb job, and I’m extremely pleased,” GINA quoted Hanoman as saying yesterday.
He is, however, hoping that this sort of record-breaking performance is the beginning of the “improving trend of the corporation,” but was quick to point out “it can only be maintained if the Union, the workers and management work together.”

REVERSED FORTUNES
GuySuCo requires a tremendous amount of work to reverse its fortunes, Hanoman said, and meeting production target is but one of the many elements involved in ensuring a viable corporation.
With indebtedness being another factor, Hanoman said the company’s total liabilities as at July 2015 stood at $82B,largely due to decreasing production, a rise in production costs, and the European Union’s recent weakening of sugar prices.
The following is a breakdown of the sums the government has had to inject into the ailing company over the last five years in order to help meet operational and other costs: $659M in 2011; $4B in 2012; $5.36B in 2013; $6B in 2014; and $12B in 2015.
As Hanoman explained, the restructuring of the industry was necessary to reverse its fate, and one of the first things the new government did on taking office following the May 11, 2015 elections was to ensure there was better management.
In order to achieve this, major changes were made in management, and a new board of directors was created. A commission of inquiry was also established to find out why the company was doing so poorly.
Thus far, Hanoman said, the commission has been able to present the company with an interim report, the contents of which Cabinet specifically went into retreat to address.
As to the fate of the Skeldon factory, Hanoman said an Interim Management Committee has been set up to scrutinise its day-to-day operations.
The good news, however, is that the factory was, last Friday, able to exceed its production target of 30,594 tonnes. Its performance to date is as follows: 25,727 tonnes in 2009; 33,250 tonnes in 2010; 29,410 tonnes in 2011; 33,309 tonnes in 2012; 25, 544 tonnes in 2013; and 35,890 tonnes last year.

GOING FORWARD
Asked how he sees the company doing in the near future, Hanoman said that going forward, “We need a new industrial climate, and any success in the future will be the management and union working together. We need to find some enlightened strategy going forward,” he said.
The new crop is expected to begin by the end of January 2016, and during the out-of-crop period, maintenance will be done on all the estates.
GuySuCo faced two recent strike actions, one in October and the other in November, over the award of the Annual Production Incentive (API). The company offered 2.7 days API, to be paid by March 2016; however, this was rejected by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), which resorted to strike action.
After the union had called off the strike, talks resumed but ended in deadlock, hence the move to conciliation.
GuySuCo had said that had it not been for the three-day strike in October, the set production target for the second crop would have been achieved since the end of November.
The corporation is currently producing about 100,000 tonnes less sugar than it was making 13 years ago. Its performance from 2002 to 2014 is as follows: 2002 – 331,052 tonnes; 2003- 302,379 tonnes; 2004 – 325,317 tonnes; 2005 – 246,071 tonnes; 2006 – 259,549 tonnes; 2007 – 266,482 tonnes; 2008 – 226, 267 tonnes; 2009 -233,736 tonnes; 2010 – 220,818 tonnes; 2011 – 236, 505 tonnes; 2012 – 218,068 tonnes; 2013 – 186,745 tonnes; 2014 -216,350 tonnes; and 2015 – 227,727 up to December 14.
Meanwhile, the disputing parties met with officials of the Ministry of Labour. The Chief Labour Officer is deliberating with his principals on the issue, and he is expected to return with his position on the matter to the union and GuySuCo sometime this week.