The situation with sugar industry is worrying and it is clear that it has to be reorganized, President Donald Ramotar has said.
“A large part of the problem with sugar has to do with the reorganization that has to take place in the sugar industry. It is very, very clear that we have to reorganize sugar, we have to… depend much, much more on mechanization at this point in time and some of that has caused some disruption, which is worrying, about the level of production. I’m told the next crop should be a better one but I have been told that before,” the president said, while responding to a question during a press conference at the Office of the President yesterday.
Earlier this week, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Komal Chand told Stabroek News that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will most likely not reach its first crop target of 70,000 tonnes, and he had pointed out that both the Rose Hall and Albion estates have finished harvesting and were below target. If GuySuCo fell below 70,000 tonnes, it would be one of the lowest first crop figures in recent times.
In addition, Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy, during the consideration of the 2013 budget estimates, said that he did not expect the ailing sugar sector to make a profit this year and instead the state-owned company would focus on mechanization. Dr Ramsammy said that the mechanization process was not where it should be and as a result of continued failure in executing rescue plans the ministry would be reviewing GuySuCo’s management and its board.
Ramotar said that the situation with sugar is worrying and “we have to probably put a lot of attention to improve things at that level.” He attributed some of the problems to the reorganization that is taking place.
Meanwhile, in relation to gold prices, Ramotar said that the price was going up a bit in recent times and this is heartening. Gold prices after a dramatic fall earlier this month have risen slowly over the past few days. The president noted that Guyana is a price-taker and operators have to examine where they can be more efficient and look at where they can cut costs to manage this type of situation.
He noted that the Guyana Gold Board had purchased some gold when prices were higher and he will depend on specialists as to whether to hold the gold and wait for higher prices as “gold don’t spoil” or sell at a certain level to minimize costs should prices not rise to the levels they were before.
The situation in these sectors are worrying and with the exception of sugar, are not directly in the country’s control “but we’re dealing with them,” the president assured.
