Infrastructural development work to convert land previously utilised by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) into the Enmore Industrial Site has commenced.
Providing an update, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal yesterday said the infrastructure work – clearance, internal roads and access bridge – being carried out is in preparation for opening up the land strictly for commercial and industrial purposes. Land is currently being accessed through the old scheme.
The industrial complex is expected to house several factories and fabrication facilities.
In December 2021, the government announced plans for the industrial plant which is expected to create close to 1,000 jobs.
With the closure of the Enmore Sugar Estate, the PPP/C-led government on return to power, announced plans to transform the East Coast corridor into an industrial area.
A $7 billion (US$35 million) investment by GUYSONS and K+B Investments Inc (GK+B) is one of the first projects set to start up in the area.
At the 2022 International Energy Conference, the companies announced their joint partnership, which President Irfaan Ali said will create tremendous job opportunities for those laid off from the closure of the estate.
“These are highly skilled jobs being created and the company has committed to commence that process almost immediately to have the eventual 500 employees trained and ready to take up jobs in the company,” he said.
“We cannot be narrow minded. I keep saying to every Guyanese, we have to up our level of thinking, [it] cannot be contained in a box anymore. It is a different era and a different scope that we operate in,” President Ali said then.
In the same breath, he had announced that government will be investing heavily in creating a road network.
A subsidiary of Surinamese-owned Rudisa Inc, Caribbean International Distributors Inc (CIDI) had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) for the development of a US$35 million agro-processing facility at Enmore.
A joint release from GO-Invest and Rudisa, released by the Department of Public Information on the day of the signing, stated that the facility is expected to engage in the production and packaging of various products including milk, natural fruit juices, water, and bread products, such as hamburger rolls, biscuits, cookies, croissants, bagels and donuts, to supply Guyana’s local and export markets.
The release added that the facility will employ approximately 600 people and will be a significant boost to local fruit and dairy farmers, who will be the chief suppliers, and Guyana’s capacity for the large-scale production of packaged fruit and dairy products.
