GAWU condemns importation of sugar

The importation of sugar from Guatemala by the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (Guysuco) for local sale is indeed most unfortunate. Guysuco has come a full circle, back to the years 1988-1991 when the sugar production slumped to an average of 155,440 tonnes and the importation of brown sugar was inevitable.

The reason for importing foreign sugar for domestic use is not merely the weather but fundamentally the low production of 226,260 tonnes of sugar last year when the projected target was 290,000 tonnes. This was the lowest in 17 years.

Last year’s production follows a reality in a few years gone by. The management of Guysuco – Booker Tate – owes it to the nation to provide an objective explanation for the worsening state of the sugar industry moreso at this time when Guysuco is forced to import sugar from Guatemala.

A five man Commission of Enquiry into the operation of the East Demerara Estate reported last December, among other things, that “it finds it rather disappointing that the Estate was allowed to decline to such a state without urgent remedial action being taken, especially since both the Corporation’s Head Office and the Agriculture Research Centre are sited in East Demerara Estates.” A number of pictures accompanying the Report depict cane fields which are heavily infested with Thanner Grass, Anti-Desma and other weeds.

A few years ago a three (3) man Commission of Enquiry found Uitvlugt Estate in a serious state of neglect. It was reported that the Corporation’s CEO mandated the closure of that Estate although this was not the official policy of the Corporation. Resources have to be found to restore the Estate’s production to the levels of past years.

The GAWU is of the strong view that the industry has the potential to rebound. The neglect of the Demerara Estates in particular needs immediate redress by the new Board of Directors. Corrective measures would result in the new Skeldon Factory becoming functional not later than April this year. The possibilities exist for the industry to once again move its production to 300,000 tonnes by the end of next year.

The thousands of sugar workers and the many thousands of dependants on the Sugar Industry need the sugar industry. The GAWU, as always, is willing to do its part while recognising that fair treatment of workers is a necessary requirement for the industry to be again robust. The growth in the country’s economy will be assured with the sugar industry becoming stable and viable once again.