GuySuCo misses target by over 9000 tonnes

…as downsized estates continue to flounder

While Guyana has started producing oil, its traditional sectors and particularly, sugar, continue to wither. It has been revealed that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) missed its first crop target by almost 9500 tonnes.
According to information from the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU), GuySuCo missed the target it had set itself, of 46,475 tonnes. Instead, GuySuCo could only manage 37,013, a shortfall of 9462 tonnes of sugar, despite the crop being extended by weeks.
None of the three estates remaining in operation reached their targets. Albion estate had the greatest shortfall. It had set itself a target of 23,089 tonnes of sugar, but could only manage 16,802 tonnes, falling short by 6287.
Similarly, GAWU pointed out that Blairmont had set itself a target of 13,976 tonnes of sugar, but only produced 11,867; a variance of 2109. Meanwhile, Uitvlugt failed to reach its target of 9410 tonnes of sugar, producing instead 8344 and falling short by over 1000 tonnes of sugar.
In terms of cane per hectare, GAWU said that Albion produced 57.86 tonnes cane per hectare (TcH), Blairmont 69.90 TcH and Uitvlugt 57.64 TcH. All three estates fell short in this measurement.
Alarmingly, GAWU said, the industry continues to underperform, adding that it was disheartening to learn that no estate achieved even 90 per cent of its target. “For our Union and more so, the thousands of sugar workers, this is most distressing. Additional information obtained by the GAWU indicate that, as at mid-May, 2020, cane yields are far below the Corporation’s planned objective as stated in its Strategic Plan.”
In addition, GAWU said the information received indicate that overall factory performance was far from acceptable standards. “Again, as at mid-May, the three (3) factories in operation operated at an average of 95 hours per week against a target of 140. Frequent factory breakdowns has been plaguing the GuySuCo for several crops now.”
GAWU reminded that it has previously drawn attention to these factory failures, despite GuySuCo having an expanded staff structure at its factory operations department. The union, therefore, questioned the functioning of the department and also its plans for procuring spares for the out of crop season and planned maintenance.
“At Uitvlugt factory for example, out-of-crop maintenance is in progress for many weeks now and workers have shared that they are instructed to re-use worn parts in areas that required complete replacements. This level of reckless engineering practice directed by the technical team will no doubt eventuate into frequent factory breakdowns during the upcoming grinding operations.”
GAWU said it remains very much disturbed by the laxity on the overall management of the sugar industry, pointing out that the corporation’s performance record over recent years justifies its position. “The coalition Government failed the industry despite spirited claims to make it a resilient business,” GAWU also said.

Breadline
It was the coalition Government which, after coming into office in 2015 on the slogan that sugar was “too big to fail”, that closed down several estates and put thousands of sugar workers on the breadline with no alternative employment. Even the retrenchment they were legally entitled to had to be gained from the Government after court battles.
Since then, the three remaining estates have been a shadow of their former selves. It was only recently that GuySuCo Chair, John Dow, had cause to write to caretaker President David Granger pleading for funds if GuySuCo was to “be able to survive after the second week June 2020.”
The Finance Ministry in a public missive then replied that “the prevailing national circumstances, coupled with the challenges of COVID-19 and a reduced national income, render the Treasury incapable of providing a bailout to GuySuCo”.
The Ministry said too that additionally, National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited, through the Special Purpose Unit (SPU), had sold lands that were vested to it, and garnered deposits of $2.1 billion. This money, however, was used to offset the $30 billion bond payments that became due in May 2020, adding that the balance of $1.5 billion for the lands will be paid over to NICIL when the vesting orders are signed and gazetted.
The balance, however, is not expected to make its way to the Corporation in its entirety, since according to the Ministry, part of this sum will go towards a bond repayment, which is due on July 4, and the remainder to GuySuCo. It had been announced that money from NICIL would have been provided to GuySuCo sometime this week.