Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday called on the APNU+AFC government to consider transforming large sums of sugar debt into equity to get the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) on a better footing.
“The debt of the company…it could be reduced easily by $5B because that is owed to the [Guyana Revenue Agency], GRA short term debt and of the $62B in long term debt, over $33B is owed to the government…you can easily convert it to, and this is for the co-gen (plant) and other things, it is owed to the government so that tomorrow (it) could be off the books. We can covert this into equity so if you go through the short term debt and the long term debt you will see that although it is carried on the books and it looks great that they are not required to service a lot of these things because the government … has not gone after them for not servicing the debts,” he told reporters during a press briefing at Freedom House yesterday.
Government on Monday announced that the Wales Sugar Estate is to be closed by yearend, the first major decision it has taken on the troubled industry. According to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Wales estate is projected to operate at a loss of between $1.6B and $1.9B this year. With immediate effect, there will be no further land preparation and planting. As the estate’s cultivation is reaped, the land would be retired and kept for diversification ventures.
Jagdeo has called on government to reverse its decision to close the estate saying that the move would affect the livelihood of many residents. Government, however, has said the Wales operation was not feasible and