Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha has stated that management at the various GuySuCo estates will be restructured and that he intends to work towards the sugar industry reclaiming its place as one of the country’s major foreign exchange earners.
Mustapha made these remarks yesterday during several outreaches yesterday in Region Five, where he addressed sugar workers. “Very shortly we will be having a new board of directors for GuySuCo. We are looking at Guysuco to improve management and we want to form a partnership between workers and management and we want to diversity the activity in Guysuco so we can make it more profitable,” he said.
At the outreach in Bath, West Coast Berbice, sugar workers complained of management issues at the estate, which prompted Mustapha to commit to a restructuring of the management team at the various estates.
Sugar workers over the years have been outspoken about the way various management teams run the estates, with most of them sharing the opinion that management does not always look out for the best interests of the workers. One worker, who only gave his name as ‘Rocky’, yesterday said, “Ayo got to reshuffle GuySuCo because of bad
management and them estate and some are here watching us who deh in the collaboration of breaking GuySuCo.”
Speaking to sugar workers in the Blairmont Area, Mustapha reiterated that the PPP/C government will revive sugar and acknowledged that although the Blairmont Estate was not closed it still was affected in some key ways. “There are critical needs for spares for the factory, there are critical needs to improve infrastructure in the fields, you need to improve crop husbandry, get fertiliser, get pesticides, get cane growth and things like that,” he said.
The minister added that is it extremely important to him that sugar workers benefit from improved working conditions. “The benefits they used to enjoy were taken away,” he said, adding, “Although we were not making a profit when the PPP/C was in government, sugar workers used to still enjoy a small increase. We used to put money in the sugar industry because sugar is critical in our country, not only to employ people but to bring in foreign exchange in our country,” he related.
With this in mind, Mustapha again emphasised that he will work to ensure that the sugar industry does not only breakeven but becomes profitable. “We will continue, we are committed and we will reopen the closed sugar estates as we said.”
According to the minister, “a conditional survey will be done to see what is there so we can start early because people depend on us.” He noted that sugar production alone may be insufficient and that the industry will have to diversify. “We have to bring in value-added products.”
He pointed out that the Co-generation Plant at the Skeldon Factory has the potential to sell power to the national grid and thus contribute to offsetting factory costs. “So all those things we are planning [to do] to revive the sugar industry,” he stated
The minister, who also visited Cotton Tree, Foulis, Seafield, and Kingsley, spoke of the need in Region Five to improve infrastructure as well as drainage and irrigation services and the conditions of dams. “We have now assigned four machines to work in the areas and we have another two from the MMA and the NDIA,” he said.
Farmers yesterday complained of facing tremendous drainage issues in several different cultivation areas throughout the region which led the minister to deploy the excavators.
Mustapha disclosed that a committee will be set up in the region to deal with critical issues, and called on farmers to cooperate with the new body.
Regarding cash crop farmers, he said that extension officers would be visiting to work along with them to increase their production as well as educate them on better ways to cultivate. “Agriculture cannot be done in an office. We have to visit the farmers and have discussions and educate the farmers and those are some of the things we plan to do,” he added.
Furthermore, he disclosed that the ministry is seeking to address market concerns for farmers, especially in light of COVID-19, which has slowed down the purchasing of produce. At the outreach in Bushlot Village, West Coast Berbice, Mustapha told the cattle, cash crop, and rice farmers present that the government is committed to reducing the cost of land rentals as well as drainage and irrigation services. He also encouraged farmers to pay their fees, once those charges are reduced.
One poultry farmer spoke of having 400 chickens that failed to grow, and he was subsequently advised to always demand a certificate of vaccination before purchasing. The minister then requested that an officer visit the poultry farmer to assess his situation and conduct whatever interventions were deemed necessary. Farmers were also advised yesterday, to register themselves with the various associations and organisations available. Some cattle farmers also raised the issue of cattle rustling to which Mustapha responded by instructing the local regional officers present to hold a meeting with the farmers and deal with their issues immediately.
The ministry has set up a hotline at 694-6878 for farmers to discuss their issues.
