Discussions on future of sugar industry ongoing

Cabinet is engaging the Board of Directors of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Special Purposes Unit (SPU) to determine the future of the industry. The SPU was set up to manage the divestment of its resources.

Recently, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said the deliberations which began at Cabinet’s Wednesday, December 27, 2017, meeting will continue today (Tuesday, January 02, 2018) with regards to the sugar estates to be retained in “a right-sized configuration” as well as the portions of the industry to be divested.

“Cabinet engaged the board of directors and the management of GuySuCo to obtain an updated position of the future plans of the Corporation to return it to efficiency and financial viability,” Minister Harmon noted.

The State Minister informed too that both the management of GuySuCo and the SPU outlined plans relating to their respective roles and responsibilities, as he reiterated Government’s commitment to ensuring the best interest of sugar workers.

Hundreds of sugar workers were laid off from the Rose Hall and Enmore Estates just last Friday, as the Estates operations came to a close. Previously workers were laid off from the La Bonne Intention (LBI) and Wales Estates as the Government sought to merge them with Enmore and Uitvlugt respectively. (Extracted and modified from Department of Public Information)