Government’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU) has secured a syndicated bond of $30 billion which will be used to revitalise the three sugar estates the Government has kept open, Colvin Heath-London, the man heading the sugar corporation said today.
He said that the bond, in which a group of financial institutions raises the required funds, sees Republic Bank as a leading contributor.
In an interview at the studios of News Room in Georgetown, Mr Heath-London said the bond was secured with “very good rates” and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) could start receiving the funds in two weeks.
The SPU was created to oversee the divestment of GuySuCo after the Government decided to shut down four estates and only leave Uitvlugt, Albion and Blairmont open. Mr Heath-London heads the SPU and now also chairs the board of GuySuCo, which has billions of dollars in debt.
He said that GuySuCo is in preliminary discussions with banks for them to take a cut in what is owed to them and those discussions are going well.
He said the idea is to make GuySuCo debt free and return the industry to profitability. To do that, he said the sugar corporation will pursue a number of initiatives, such as the co-generation of electricity to supply the national grid, getting into an aggressive cane-juice and molasses business, producing plantation white sugar and packaging sugar for concentrated markets.
Heath-London said the intention is to create a “new GuySuCo.”
Thousands of sugar workers were sent home when the four estates were closed.
