Sugar shortage in the land of Demerara Gold

Dear Editor,
It is disturbing that in the land of Demerara Gold, the everyday commodity of sugar has seemingly run out, and sugar prices are akin to those of precious metals.
Recently, I saw the GuySuCo CEO indicating that sugar is not in short supply, but hoarding and smuggling are taking place on the part of nefarious wholesalers and retailers. Of course, if that is true, the CEO should expose these individuals who are heartlessly driving up the price of this everyday commodity.
From a video I have seen, the CEO has also told the nation to remain calm, and that supplies would soon be normalised. He had said then that packaged sugar would be available within two (2) weeks. Intriguingly, the GuySuCo Facebook page adverted, on July 15, 2022, that packaged sugar is available at a particular supermarket. Maybe the CEO had made an error.
The CEO also said that bagged sugar remains in stock, and consumers’ worries are being exacerbated by prophets of doom. However, I must share some information which has come to hand; it puts in serious doubt the things that the GuySuCo ‘boss’ has said.
Maybe the sugar company can advise whether it is accurate to say that the company, between January and May this year, had sold some 4,300 tonnes of packaged and bagged sugar locally. Did the company also sell about 5,700 tonnes of bagged sugar to several Caribbean countries up to that same point? Similarly, did GuySuCo have sales amounting to around 3,700 tonnes of packaged sugar within the Caribbean as well?
If those quantities are aggregated, it would mean that, for this year, GuySuCo sold 13,700 tonnes of sugar, while it produced just over 13,000 tonnes of sugar in the same period. Does this mean that the company sold out the sugar stocks it had in its bonds, and has not been able to replenish them?
Also, if the information is accurate, and I have every reason to believe the data, does it mean GuySuCo has deliberately robbed the Guyanese market of sugar, and assisted in pushing up the cost of living?
Mr Singh is huffing and puffing, but to me it seems he is really bluffing. Guyana has traditionally utilised between 24,000 and 25,000 tonnes of sugar per annum. More than half of the year has gone, and just about one-sixth of this local demand has been satisfied. It does not take a Nobel laureate to know what would happen in such a situation.
I have long learned that we can fool some of the people some of the time, but we cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The excuse of smuggling and hoarding is just a distraction from the real challenge. I ask now, should Mr Singh retain his post?

Sincerely,
Rohan Sanichar