GuySuCo’s production in shambles due to poor management – GAWU

Last Updated on Monday, 28 October 2024, 21:11 by Writer

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) on Monday said the country’s sugar production continued to plummet due to poor management of agricultural operations.

While the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) overall production target was approximately 70,000 tonnes, GAWU said that as of October 26, 2024, that company produced 24,711 tonnes or just 39% of its second crop target of 63,276 tonnes.

“As much as 60 per cent of the cropping period has been exhausted, and the GAWU is apprehensive that the deficit cannot be closed in the remaining cropping weeks,” GAWU said.

GuySuCo’s last week of operation for the year is mid- to late December.

The Ministry of Finance’s mid-2024 report states that the sugar industry contracted by 60.4% with production of 6,739 tonnes during the first half of the year.

Neither the corporation nor government, its sole shareholder, has responded to GAWU’s view that the industry was in a “sad situation.” The union said it was expecting the agricultural leadership to provide explanations for the low production such as punt weights, standards, and work attendance in the coming days, among other things. “Of course, those who have followed the industry would know that these are certainly not new excuses but are the same old scapegoats – the workers and the weather – that will be deployed to grant coverage for the eventual output,” GAWU added.

The union said before the second crop started, GuySuCo apparently “brushed aside” several important issues such as the production rate that had been brought to the attention to the corporation.

GAWU said it was “puzzled” that GuySuCo did not take advantage of the dry weather over the past few weeks to use its machines for sugar operations. The union remarked that the industry remains heavily reliant on manual cane harvesting complemented by mechanised loading, a practice that is now decades old. The union acknowledged that the El Niño drought conditions had impacted on the industry but expected GuySuCo’s experienced management could have planned better ahead of time to cushion the impact.

GAWU said it was convinced that the sugar industry could succeed, but only knowledgeable and capable management is an essential prerequisite. “We urge policymakers to consider ridding the industry of those who have anointed themselves as the ‘saviour’ but have placed it in a stranglehold and seek to blame everyone and everything but themself for the circumstances in which the GuySuCo finds itself,” the union added.

The opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) had repeatedly criticised government for forking out billions of d0llars from the treasury to prop up GuySuCo for political reasons.