Management issues “wouldn’t stop GuySuCo” from moving forward – Agri Minister

The current internal issues within the management of Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will not affect the agency’s production of sugar.
This is according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.
He made the comment on the sidelines of a contract signing on Tuesday, where he said, “I’ve instructed the CEO to ensure that operations continue and they continue to look to improve services across the sugar industry to get better performance from these estates and these minor issues I call it, in terms of personality clashes wouldn’t stop GuySuCo from moving forward.
“Those matters will be thrashed out internally but I don’t see that as hinderance to stop or affect production in the sugar industry,” the Minister explained.
Recent internal issues among the management and members of the Board led to the resignation of GuySuCo Board’s Vice Chairman, Anthony Vieira.
According to Vieira in a letter to the editor, his resignation came because he was not happy with the direction in which GuySuCo was going. He wrote that GuySuCo wanted to buy 22 articulated tractors, which he did not agree with. Vieira said he had wanted the Corporation to continue using John Deere fixed-frame tractors. He cited these, and other factors, in his decision to quit.

$3.4B to revive industry
Meanwhile, the Minister assured that the $3.4 billion that was allocated to the sugar industry through the Supplementary Budget for reviving the industry will serve its intended purpose.
“The $3.4 billion that will be given will go as I explained yesterday in the supplementary explanation that I have given to Parliament that these monies will go in to the recapitalisation of the factories, procure necessary parts to improve the performance of the factories.”
He stated that while they have been able to improve the production of the current operating factories that were not operating at 50 per cent capacity when they came back into office, they are still not operating a 100 per cent.
“What we are striving to do is to ensure that we improve the capacity of the factory where the crushing of the cane be done in a better way, in terms of getting more sucrose out of the cane so that we can have better production in the factories.
“That is what we are doing now to improve the performance of the factory, change the mill roller, change the chain, those are necessary parts, important bearings, so that the factory capacity can improve tremendously,” the Minister further explained.