Phased reopening for Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon estates

GOVERNMENT will be reopening the Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates in a phased approach, Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill announced on Wednesday.

Edghill, who presented the national budget, said a viable and sustainable sugar industry is the government’s long-term goal and it will work to solve the problems of the industry holistically.

He noted that the government since assuming office has been doing an assessment on the state of the assets and the level of reinvestment to be done, starting with an initial allocation of $3 billion in 2020 for critical works, with an additional $2 billion being made available should works progress.
As for the Wales Estate, he said works have commenced to create opportunities and employment under the newly established Wales Development Authority.
“The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will concentrate its efforts to ensure it achieves, in the short-term, a break-even status. We will ensure better management by appointing a new, competent and skilled Board of Directors. We will ensure greater efficiency through the necessary re-tooling, product diversification and retraining where necessary,” he told the House.

With regard to rice, he informed the House that the previous administration neglected rice farmers, under the premise of “rice is a private business.”
“For us in the PPP/C government, rice is a Guyanese business. Our government will support the farmers and millers with a view of expanding the rice industry. Action will be taken to ensure the reversing of the draconian fees for land rents, drainage and irrigation, and restoring adequate budgetary support for the maintenance of drainage and irrigation systems, as well as farm-to-market roads, which will benefit rice farmers, including those involved in the cultivation of other crops,” he said.
“To this end, this government has taken the decision to reverse increases in land lease fees for lands under cultivation, and land taxes and drainage and irrigation charges, back to their 2014 position. Further, the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary-Agricultural Development Authority has been provided with a capital injection of $112.9 million to undertake critical drainage and irrigation works within the area, which will see improvements for farmers, and will also bring additional lands to a usable state.
Minister Edghill also noted that the Guyana Rice Development Board will continue to expand and secure new markets for paddy and other by-products; increase productivity through research and development into new strains, and robust pest-control measures; continue seed paddy production with enhanced extension and quality control; and, involve all stakeholders working together to increase productivity.

I welcome the appointment of Sasenarine Singh as CEO of GUYSUCO and look forward to a revitalized, profitable, efficiently managed industry. For while at the end of the day, one understands the need for those thousands to regain productive employment and the thousands of others who depended on the industry to make a living, we cannot lose sight of the fact that, oil money or not, no government can afford to continually keep a loss making industry afloat. Sase has spoken a lot about what he intends to do. Now we look forward to the talk being walked. Congrats Sasenarine Singh and best of luck!

There is a bright future for sugar, but we need to support the workers and management in this thrust to restore the sweetness to sugar; elevate it to an important foreign exchange earner; and re-establish it as a unfying force within sugar communities and beyond.