Govt hopes to wean GuySuCo off multi-billion dollar subsidies within five years

Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 February 2026, 21:47 by Writer

A five-year strategic plan for the financially sagging Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) could see that wholly state-owned corporation being weaned off decades of state subsidies now running into billions of dollars, agriculture minister Zulfikar Mustapha said on Tuesday.

Facing questions from the opposition A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Saiku Andrews about whether there was a timeline for the subsidies to end, the minister said the plan includes an aim to drastically reduce the subsidy. “We’d work to ensure that GuySuCo goes back to profitability. That would be the catalyst in ensuring we change the modus operandi of the corporation and we are working towards that and, hopefully, we can make a change from this year,” he told the House Committee of Supply.

Mr Andrews, a city businessman, asked the agriculture minister how “reasonably confident” was he that the turnaround plan would yield success by 2030.

Responding, Mr Mustapha pegged his optimism to ongoing mechanisation of operations now at more than 41 percent. “In that plan, you would see new machinery being bought for the next five years,” he said, listing them as billet cutters, planters and harvesters.

APNU had closed four sugar estates and laid off thousands of workers as part of its restructuring plan to reduce losses and annual subventions. But Mr Mustapha’s People’s Progressive Party Civic quickly capitalised on that move and used it as an election campaign plank for the 2020 general and regional elections.

On the human resources side, the agriculture minister said regular meetings were being held with the managers to push them to achieve the 2030 target of profitability. “We are working diligently; we are working to modernise the corporation. We are looking at the performance of management. Managers have to be more accountable now,” he said.

Within the past 15 years, sugar production has been falling steadily due, according to authorities, poor weather and industrial unrest.

The corporation produced 59,200 metric tonnes of the sweetener last year, down from its revised target of 70,000 metric tonnes. This year, GuySuCo hopes to produce 100,000 tonnes of sugar.

Responding to questions from the We Invest in Nationhood’s (WIN) Vishnu Panday – a former GuySuCo estate manager and agriculture director – asked what was done to have a 36 percent increase in production to achieve 100,000 metric tonnes.

The minister hoped that an increase in mechanisation to 50 percent or 60 percent, and major rehabilitation of sugar factories that has resulted in better juice extraction. “All these things will contribute to better sugar production. I’m very optimistic that after this first maintenance period that we are in and when the factories are restarted in another month or less than a month from now, I think the factories will be in a better position to give us a better extraction rate,” he said. He also said plant cane would be used to drive up production.

The minister said there are more than 1.2 million tonnes of cane.

He said GuySuCo still owes the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) almost GY$1 billion, but Mr Mustapha promised to assist sugar cane workers who encounter difficulties at that social security agency.

Meanwhile, the House was told that 81 percent of the GY$8.4 billion allocated to GuySuCo would go towards payment of part of the GY$20 billion wages and salaries.