The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) last evening said that Kaieteur News had misunderstood the facts presented on the Enmore packaging plant, and so the corporation “vehemently” refuted the report that the newly-constructed packaging plant is not being utilized.
A GuySuCo press release said that the corporation is also appalled at the release of “misconstrued” information by the newspaper when it had been advised that of the 8,498 tonnes of sugar produced by the Enmore location in the first crop of 2012, 7,828 tonnes was packaged by the plant.
The packaging plant had accommodated a request by Kaieteur News for a visit on August 18 and a tour was granted and informal discussions held with managers with an understanding that the newspaper would return on full resumption of operations, the release said.
It noted, however, that “it is true that at the time of the visit the plant was not operational and for genuine operational reasons inherent with production of raw brown sugars for direct consumption.”
It is significant to note, according to GuySuCo, that the plant started to operate on August 22, four days prior to the release of the Kaieteur News article.
Grinding operations commenced at Enmore on July 31 this year and during the period July 31 to August 18 erratic weather conditions affected continuous cane supply to the factory so sugar production and ‘sugar flow-through’ on recently maintained equipment was reduced.
Factory equipment underwent significant maintenance work during the last out-of-crop period and it is standard operating practice for a sugar plant of this nature to ensure that the first batches of sugar be directed to bulk (which is intended for re-processing) after a maintenance period, especially a major one. This period allows for operational “fine-tuning” and to guarantee product consistency for direct consumption sugars required for the packaging plant.
The corporation noted that the process highlighted here could have been faster if the factory operated continuously but erratic weather conditions affected cane supply and continuity in operations, (i.e. reduced processing time) since the commencement of the crop.
It is on this basis, GuySuCo explained, that managers advised that the plant has been focusing on bulk production.
Coincidentally, the release pointed out, a bulk vessel was being loaded at this time and so Enmore was achieving two objectives simultaneously – adjusting operations to ensure consistency in product quality for direct consumption sugar, while aiding with a bulk consignment. During non-operational periods for the packaging plant, permanent labour is usually directed to other parts of the factory, the release noted.
It added that while it is unfortunate that the facts presented were misunderstood, this may be no fault of the reporter as sugar processing and operations have their own technicalities.
