THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is not only about sugar and employment but a medium that has contributed significantly to national and community development, positively impacting the lives of thousands of Guyanese.
This is according to Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, during a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
“GuySuCo historically is not only about employing people, it has a multifaceted role in the community, there are direct workers who depend on GuySuCo and there are the indirect dependents, such as shop keepers, seamstresses, and market vendors. GuySuCo was also involved in community development where playgrounds, drainage and irrigation, healthcare centres and other aspects of the community were looked after,” the agriculture minister said.
He also noted that majority of talented cricketers came from the GuySuCo estates, and contended that the decision by the previous government to close the estates was one that lacked vision. Sugar under the PPP/C administration, he said, will be brought back to its former glory.
Speaking to Crabwood Creek residents at the ball field in that community on Saturday, the minister said a lot of work is being done to reopen the closed sugar estates.
“You know for a fact when these estates were closed people in the community, not only those persons who were working with the sugar estates, but people who depend on the sugar estate directly and indirectly were affected and places like Crabwood Creek, Line Path and the entire Corentyne area we have seen the activities slow down and people had to migrate to other areas to seek employment,” he said.
Returning persons to their jobs will be the short-term plan, Minister Mustapha told this publication, noting that incrementally, the sector will be developed until it is sustainable.
“We are looking to employ as many persons as possible, these are people who lost their jobs, and others who are needed in the system,” the agriculture minister said.
For the past five years, Minister Mustapha noted that there was no cohesive policy or aim to propel the agriculture sector in a progressive path.
“Agriculture is one of the major sectors in our country and we have to have certain clear objectives before we go there, as such value-added products, diversification and modernisation is needed in order to survive in the global market and economy,” the agriculture minister said.
RIGHT DIRECTION
He also noted that government is already moving in this direction.
“As a matter of fact, I recently submitted the Terms of Reference (ToR) and the Government of India will be sending two specialists to assist with the re-organisation of the industry. This is the first step. I’ve also discussed acquiring the equipment necessary to assemble factories at estates that were closed. Many of the factories were left as empty shells and in order for us to reopen those estates we need to replace all of the equipment. The high commissioner was very interested and we will have further discussions on it soon,” Minister Mustapha said.
On the issue of diversification, he said sugar can only be looked at through the eyes of sustainability.
The minister, on that score, noted that cogeneration will be used in the sugar industry while the Albion Sugar Estate could be modernised to produce white sugar which is imported into Guyana.
Further, he said high-grade molasses is needed in Guyana for the rum industry, along with supplying the Trinidadian market.
Currently at the Wales Estate, 17 tonnes of cane is being used to produce one tonne of sugar, because many of the equipment were removed and the estate was left in a dilapidated condition.
“Whales Estate will be difficult to open because it was destroyed, the previous government sold out land, parts from the factory and parts of the factory were cannibalised, so we will have to look at Wales as a big larger project but the three other estates will be easier to open, but we haven’t decided which one yet,” the minister said.
On Wednesday, after a meeting with GuySuCo and National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) team, the minister said a technical team was set up and inspections were done at Rose Hall, Enmore and Skeldon Estates and that report on the conditional survey will be submitted to Cabinet.
KEY APPOINTMENTS
On a separate visit to the Skeldon Estate on Saturday, Minister Mustapha said key appoints have been made.
“We have appointed Mr. Vishnu Panday as the point person, he will have a small team to go around to see what is needed right now. He was the last estate manager here and he has a lot of knowledge of this location so he will come up with an immediate pan of action that can be implemented and bring back this project.”
“When I was asked how long it will take to bring this back I said we have to a conditional survey to know what is there and what is needed so first of all we have to look at the factory, we also have to bring in the cane farmers because this location here, the cane farmers contribute 33 per cent so we have to engage the cane farmers with GuySuCo so we can have enough cane for the factory. Aaron Dukhia has been appointed the point person for Rose Hall Estate,” the minister said.