The Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCCI) is questioning the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s formula for paying farmers and wants drastic changes to the industry.
President of the UCCCI, Abraham Subnauth told Stabroek News that GuySuCo was reporting that some private cane farmers attached to the Skeldon factory have tonnes of cane per tonne of sugar (TC/TS) as high as 40 to 45. He said that it was his belief that there was no way the farmers’ levels could be that high.
Subnauth stated that Skeldon uses an average of 20 to 25 TC/TS and that private cane farmers regularly have a higher than average TC/TS. This is known but the recent assertions by Skeldon that the ratio was as high as 45 seemed highly unlikely.
Payments to farmers are based on the amount of sugar produced at the factory and not on the tonnage of cane delivered to the factory,