Guyana lost out on 6 million euros ($1.6b) from the European Commission in budgetary support for 2007-8 because of the late submission of a sugar action plan and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud has called for more flexibility from Brussels in the allocation of resources.
Reforms in the sugar industry here are advancing despite “some frustrations” in accessing European Commission (EC) resources to cushion Persaud said yesterday while calling for acceleration in the disbursement of EC budgetary support funds.
He said that Guyana has voiced its concerns with the delays in the release of the funds with the local EC delegate, and more recently during the deliberations at the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Ministerial conference on sugar that opened here on Monday.
But Guyana failed to acquire the full budgetary disbursement for 2007/2008 after it was unable to meet all the conditions, according to Ambassador of the European Commission to Guyana Geert Heikens. He said that the country lost out on 6M euros in budgetary support.
Saying that the conditions “were simple” Heikens told Stabroek News yesterday that an estimated 22M euros was allocated for the period in question. He disclosed that issues arose after Guyana failed to submit Guysuco’s action plan on time, noting that the plan was delayed for months.
Heikens said that the EC is looking at speeding up payments to ACP countries, but that the commission is mindful of the conditions attached. He said further that 18M euros has been set aside in local reform support for 2009/2010, noting that the commission expects a new request from Guyana shortly for the next round of disbursements.
“We are not in favour of holding the money in Brussels, it is to be disbursed but countries must meet the required conditions, which are not difficult”, Heikens added.
Persaud believes the lost funds are still accessible. Speaking during a break at the ACP sugar conference yesterday, he said that Guyana is currently negotiating with the EU delegate here to access the remaining tranche from 2007/2008, but would not elaborate on the status of the talks.
“There are some indicators that you have to meet, if you did not fulfill them for this year [2007/2008] you lose those resources, we are saying that we should not lose those resources, and that the EU should be more flexible”, Persaud said.
Guyana is not the only country facing the same problem with disbursements, Persaud said. He stated the current forum at the sugar conference has been used by other ACP countries to raise similar concerns about the accompanying measures provided by the EU as preferences for the region’s sugar erodes.
Countries such as Swaziland and Mauritius have raised concerns about the pace of the delivery of the payments by the EC.
Minister Persaud also spoke on specific steps that are being taken to diversify the sugar sector here, and
to make it more competitive. He mentioned the sugar action plan saying that it contains a number of
interventions aimed at modernizing the industry.
He said too that the wider Guyana National Action Plan looks at other potential adjustments in the sector to remove the reliance on sugar and by extension the industry. He pointed to the Agriculture Export and Diversification Project, which is a five-year project, adding that this is complemented by that US$6.9M Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development programme.
According to him, focus is also being placed on new areas for growth at the level of the administration. He said that Guyana is pushing ahead as it adapts to the new strategies to implement post the sugar protocol.
Persaud mentioned the new Skeldon Factory as being part of the modernization process saying that it is now “up and running”. However, he admitted that it is unable to operate at capacity due to a poor supply of sugarcane.
“We need to ramp up production, which we are concerned about, because of the amount of land under cultivation, both by Guysuco and the private cane farmers”, he stated.
He said now that the factory issue has been resolved all the attention and focus is on getting cane so that it can realize its true capacity of it, but he stated that the plan was to ensure that the factory would be “ up to speed” over a three-year period.
Persaud said that private farmers and Guysuco are doubling up efforts.
“Guysuco is even supporting private farmers in field cultivation, but there is a lot of focus on the drainage because there was inadequate drainage both in private cane farmers and Guysuco cultivation”, Persaud said.
According to the minister, central government has had to assist private cane farmers to build five structures in the Moleson Creek area for effective drainage. Further, he said that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) is supporting Guysuco in accelerating its drainage programme.
