Focus not on tearing down, but on building-up together

Dear Editor,
The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) wishes to respond to a letter written by one Mrs. Emily Lorrimer published on May 19, 2025.
While Mrs Emily Lorrimer’s letter, attempted to raise a number of concerns about GuySuCo’s First Crop performance, it denigrated into a personal attack on GuySuco’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Paul Cheong. While the Corporation welcomes scrutiny and concurs that accountability is necessary, it is vital that criticism be grounded in fact and fairness, not conjecture and personal attacks.
It is undisputed that GuySuCo’s First Crop production stands at 15,980 metric tonnes but this must be analyzed in the context of the prevailing circumstances and not be attributed to lack of leadership by the CEO.
Weather impact and strategic decisions
Heavy and persistent rainfall severely negatively impacted the harvesting schedule, factory efficiency, and field access. Recorded rain fall has significantly surpassed the long term average with Berbice estates recording 212% and Demerara 160% of the established long term mean (LTM) with 53% of the available days being classified as wet days. This isn’t “playing politics,” but a reality that increasingly erratic climatic conditions are negatively affecting agricultural operations globally. The decision to continue harvesting, particularly at Albion, was made to reduce losses by attempting to take out as much ripen canes as possible in the safest and most economical way. Leaving canes unharvested would have been even more disastrous, both financially and agronomically.

Factory performance and TC/TS
TC/TS at Albion during the favourable harvesting days reached as low at 11.38. Additionally, factory down time across the industry reduced significantly (22%) when compared to similar period in 2024. Further, cane yields in 2025 increased by 11% in the industry. Thus, it is malicious to attribute this circumstance entirely to “quack” parts or insinuate corruption without evidence.

Financial management
The claim that Mr. Cheong misled the public regarding the use of the G$13 billion parliamentary approved allocation is unfounded. Public spending by GuySuCo is subject to audit and parliamentary scrutiny. As of the close of the First Crop, GuySuCo had indeed utilized a portion of the allocation, but not the exaggerated figure of $9 billion as being reported by the writer. GuySuCo’s procurement processes undergo oversight and are governed by the National Procurement Act.

Labour shortage and mechanisation
GuySuCo, like many agricultural enterprises globally, is grappling with declining labour availability; this is not a new issue, and certainly not of Mr. Cheong’s doing. The Corporation has embarked on mechanization, not only to fill the labour gap but to improve cost-efficiency over time. Allegations of inflated private contractors’ payments are also totally unfounded.
CEO performance and marketing
It is easy to oversimplify GuySuCo’s marketing challenges without understanding today’s global sugar market dynamics. The current average price earned by the Corporation is significantly greater than the price quoted by the writer. Under the astute leadership of Mr. Cheong, the Corporation has commenced the diversification of revenue, improve packaging, branding, and market access to reposition Guyana’s sugar.

Forward planning
The Corporation is strategically planning for the commencement of the Second Crop by reviewing timelines, field operations, and logistics to recover as much as possible from the canes that will be carried over.
Constructive criticism is welcomed, but when it descends into name-calling and personal attacks, it undermines the very progress it claims to promote.
As aforementioned, Mr. Cheong is not “bubbling on the job”, he is steering a century-old institution through structural reform, increasing climate uncertainty, and labour shortages, while building systems for long-term sustainability.
The Corporation urges all to focus not on tearing down, but on building-up together, transparently, and with shared resolve.

Sincerely,
Guyana Sugar
Corporation Inc