With the government still to declare a plan for the ailing sugar industry, stakeholders will likely face more waiting time as a parliamentary committee is now seeking submissions on the Guyana Sugar Corporation.
A notice in today’s Stabroek News from the National Assembly said that the Sectoral Committee on Economic Services is in the process of examining issues related to GuySuCo. The committee is thereby inviting written submissions “from the public on matters pertaining to GuySuCo, to aid in its examination of the entity”.
Submissions should be made no later than June 20th to the clerk of the committee, Parliamentary Sectoral Committee, Public Buildings.
A much anticipated report on a Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry was submitted to the government last October. Despite previous government assurances that it would act on this report, nothing was done. A cabinet retreat was held along with a follow-up.
In January of this year, the government announced that the Wales estate would be closed at the end of this year and some of its workers redeployed. Then in April this year, GuySuCo announced that the remaining operations at the LBI estate would cease and workers would be relocated. These two decisions have deepened concerns among hundreds of sugar workers about their fate.
In the meanwhile, the government would only say that feasibility studies are being done on the way ahead for the industry. A number of options have been floated for the Wales estate but nothing has been confirmed.
