Even as the government remains mum on the reasons for the decision, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has invited persons to invest in some 25 per cent of the corporation’s lands to plant sugar cane and supply it to their Albion, Blairmont, Rose Hall, and Uitvlugt estates, according to a request for Expressions of Interest.
“The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc.( GuySuCo) invites eligible, qualified and experienced individuals, companies or consortiums to indicate their interest in cultivating and delivering sugar canes to the factories in a private sector managed arrangement,” the notice states.
“The lands to be cultivated are owned and or controlled by GuySuCo and authorization will be granted to the successful parties to produce sugar canes. On these designated lands, the private sector is expected to harvest and deliver the sugar canes to the factories at Albion, Rose Hall, Blairmont and Uitvlugt Estates,” it adds.
The Stabroek News yesterday reached out to Acting Chairperson of GuySuCo, Shaleeza Shaw, who pointed this newspaper to Chief Executive Officer, Sasenarine Singh. When contacted, Singh explained that “it is a policy decision and the best person to answer questions would be the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha.” Several calls were made and messages sent to the minister and all went unanswered.
However, sources told Stabroek News that “even for the estates that currently exist, persons are not taking up the jobs and it is becoming more and more difficult to execute planned works.”
GuySuCo’s notice also informs that approximately 5,000 hectares or 12,300 acres of temporarily abandoned lands are available in blocks to the successful applicants.
The minimum size of each block will be 400 hectares or 1,000, acres.
The corporation noted that “Multiple blocks may be allocated to individuals, companies or consortiums who have demonstrated the competency, experience, resources and scope necessary to do so.”
Terms of Reference will be given to interested applicants which will inform of their requirements in terms of light land clearing, tillage and planting, cane husbandry operations, drainage and irrigation within their allocation, harvesting and delivery of sugar canes to the factories.
A compulsory requirement is that applicants provide information which proves that they have the required experience, equipment, manpower, and financial capabilities to “embark on this undertaking within their respective allocated blocks.”
Salvage
The invitation for private farmers represents yet another initiative to salvage the industry from the dire circumstances it has encountered over the last 15 years. Many of these, including attempts at privatization, have ended in failure leaving the industry in need of more and more state subventions.
Earlier this month, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had met with sugar workers, private cane farmers, and members of the National Cane Farmers’ Committee, in Region Three. It is unclear if at that meeting persons had expressed any desire to have access to increased lands for farms.
The notice did not give a breakdown of where the available lands are but many private cane farmers already supply the Uitvlugt sugar estate.
Private sugar cane farming had been affected when the APNU+AFC closed Wales and three other estates.
In 2018, GuySuCo had reported that it had made 4,200 hectares available to be leased to private cane farmers and over half was already being used. There has been no update on if the remainder was ever taken or the status of that programme.
“One of the things we want to do is to bring more cane farmers on board and this is part of that and our Uitvlugt Improvement Programme,” then GuySuCo spokeswoman Audreyanna Thomas had informed.
She had indicated that out of the 4,200 hectares made available for lease, 2,800 hectares have been already occupied by some 77 cane farmers.
“Some of the farmers who were at Wales went over to Uitvlugt and we started to give some new ones last year and in 2016 we started to give some new farmers,” Thomas had disclosed.
She had noted that they were expecting to produce 5,900 tonnes of sugar per year from the lands that are currently being leased, which would help to meet the estate’s production target of 17,400 tonnes that year. Thomas added that while at one point there was a lot of interest, it had since waned but the company had been receiving applications and calls regularly.
Asked how much land can be allocated to a single farmer, she had noted that the applicants must show that they have the financial wherewithal to meet the commitment.
“Let’s say that I applied for 2,000 hectares of land. If I am going to be approved to be able lease that amount of land, then I have to show that I can support the operations of 2,000 hectares of land growing sugar cane,” Thomas explained.
But in July of 2020, four years after the closure of the Wales sugar estate, it was revealed that the 774 private farmers who supplied the factory with cane were also affected. And while many had to find other alternatives to provide for their livelihoods, a few had told this newspaper that they were hanging on and turned to supplying the Uitvlugt sugar estate. This was although they had been cultivating less than a quarter of the acreage that they were when the Wales estate closed.
Enterprise
Some had abandoned the enterprise altogether and had sold off their acres of land, or rented them out. Others said that they had no other choice but to leave them bare, financially unable to engage in cultivation.
Meanwhile, those deciding to weather the storm had not only had to cut back on the amount produced, but they had to cut back on labourers also, forcing those persons to seek jobs elsewhere.
Then last year, the PPP/C announced that as part of its efforts to revitalise the sugar industry, it would be looking into a small-business initiative for cane farmers which will allow them to have access to small loans to invest in their farms.
Agriculture minister Mustapha had acknowledged the challenges concomitant with restructuring Guyana’s sugar industry and getting it to a profitable state. He then had urged the Cane Producers’ Board to align their programmes for the expansion and development of the industry to the policies outlined in government’s 2020-2025 manifesto.
“We were voted into office by the people of this country based on the manifesto that was put forward. Those manifesto promises now act as the framework for developing government’s policies. One of those promises was to open the closed sugar estates and bring the sector to profitability. We’ve started already and, as a result, a number of cane farming committees have signaled their readiness to come back on stream. I’ve had meetings with the Upper Corentyne Cane Farming Committee, as well as cane farming committees from Bloomfield and Letter Kenny. I hope this Board can play a major role is helping to resuscitate all those dormant cane farming committees across the country. A number of those committees need to have elections and have their leases renewed and I hope this Board will give the kind of leadership necessary to have these committees functional,” Mustapha was quoted as saying.
He had also told the board of his government’s intention to develop a public/private partnership for the industry.
“With the plans we have for the sector and where we hope to take it, we are cognizant of the fact that government alone cannot fund the industry. Since taking office, government has injected $7 billion into the sugar industry. Those funds were and will be used for the reopening of the estates that were closed, as well as the recapitalization of the estates presently operating. This will also result in private cane farmers having a lot of opportunities to resuscitate their farms and you will have to be at the forefront in leading the process to ensure we incorporate them into the activities of GuySuCo,” he said
“Furthermore, as you should be aware, one of the main functions of the Board is the control, administration and recoup money from farmers under the Cane Farmers Special Fund Act. Government is also looking at the small business initiative and this Board can make representation for farmers to have access to small loans to invest in their farms. Last year we had $100 million in that fund from the budget and hopefully in the new budget, we can have more funds so that cane farmers can tap into those resources,” he added.
