Saying that sugar has all but collapsed with diminishing prospects for a turnaround, APNU’s Shadow Agriculture Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine used his budget speech in the National Assembly last week to call for a sustainable plan and better management to effectively reverse the industry’s fortunes.
Sugar production plummeted from 325,432 tonnes in 2004 to 189,000 tonnes in 2013, he observed, while noting that even the government’s current assessment is less optimistic when compared to previous budgets.
While Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh continues to point to additional financing being required to undertake