Sugar estates starved of capital – new GuySuCo Chairman

With sugar production reaching its lowest in decades since the downsizing of the industry and with the closure of three estates, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is now in dire need of capital to bring the level of production to an improved mark.

This point was made by newly-appointed Chairman of GuySuCo, John Dow, who told Guyana Times in an interview on Wednesday that the aim is to improve infrastructure and purchase new equipment that will aid in increasing the industry’s performance.
“The estates have been starved of capital. There have been a lot of deterioration of the infrastructure at these estates…the dams, bridges, timber revetment… It’s a chicken and egg situation. We need to put some money in getting the infrastructure up to scratch before you can expect these increases in production,” he explained.
Dow, an agriculture expert and a member of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that looked into the state of the industry, said apart from that, people cannot expect three estates to produce what eight were doing. “So, obviously there is a reduction in the quantity of sugar that can be produced,” Dow explained, adding that there are other factors too.
At present, GuySuCo is working to improve the sugarcane yields to beyond 70 tonnes of cane per hectare. He said if improvements in this area take place, then there are chances that this too can add to an overall improvement in the production by the Corporation.
“Also the replacement of equipment is important… You have tractors that are very old and the availability time of those units… 15 years old cannot be the same as a new tractor,” he added. Dow said a replacement programme should have been in place to ensure that a certain percentage of vehicle are replaced annually so as to guarantee efficiency.
“However, because of the unavailability of capital over the last 10 years or so, you are in a bit of a bind… So, you cannot get increases in production without spending money in getting that infrastructure and equipment up to scratch,” he asserted.
President David Granger said recently that the Government’s vision is to revamp the Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt sugar estates. He said the intention is to employ some 10,000 people to maximise the profitability of the local sugar industry.
In declaring that GuySuCo is important to Government, the Guyanese Head of State said the plan is to produce about 147-150,000 tonnes of sugar with the 10,000 work force. This is about 7000 less workers than when the coalition Government took office in 2015.
GuySuCo has produced a dismal 34,450 tonnes of sugar for the first crop in 2018, out of a low production target of 36,105 which was set. The figure will likely be the lowest ever first crop for the industry which has seen four of its estates taken out of production in the last two years. Sugar production at one time in Guyana was around 300,000 tonnes.
Last year, GuySuCo fell short of the projected figure for its first crop by some 24,566 tonnes. The Corporation had set a target of 74,172 tonnes of sugar but was only able to produce 49,606 tonnes. This year’s first crop is a further decline of 15,000 tonnes.
Over the years, GuySuCo has also complained about the poor attendance figures of the harvesters for their respective estates. It has called on communities to encourage the workers to turn out to assist with the harvesting and production. But Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) President Komal Chand has repeatedly said that the underperformance can be credited to a lack of motivation among the workers.
A few months ago, the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) under the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) secured a syndicated bond worth $30 billion to assist with the revitalisation of the cash-strapped GuySuCo. It was reported that almost $2 billion has been disbursed to GuySuCo for operational expenses of its three estates.
Only this week, Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited has made known several of its concerns with how the $30 billion bond that was loaned to NICIL is being spent. On Tuesday, SPU Head Colvin Heath-London admitted that that the Bank had registered an official complaint and asked that some of the matters be corrected with some level of urgency.
The $30 billion bond arrangement with the bank is aimed at helping to finance capital works for three GuySuCo estates – Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt. (Samuel Sukhnandan)