The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is denying that it is dumping some 300 punts of sugarcane, as claimed by former Coalition Member of Parliament (MP), Mervyn Williams.
Williams in a Facebook post dated March 5, 2022, wrote: “On March 3rd 2022, the presidents of Guyana and Guatemala discussed cooperation in Agriculture. In particular, they discussed assistance from Guatemala to Guyana regarding the ‘revitalisation of sugar’. As this is happening, the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate is dumping three hundred (300) punts of sugar cane. Unable to repair the mechanical problems at the factory, the estate’s management does the next best thing. They dump sugar cane.”
Williams went on to say, “Soon Guyanese will learn that the GuySuCo’s Uitvlugt Estate will be out of sugar production. They will tell the nation that, Uitvlugt Estate will be producing ethanol. The truth is that GuySuCo will soon be closing the Uitvlugt Estate which is unable to reach production targets and which the corporation is unable to maintain. The government must tell the nation what exactly it plans to do about the economy of the Essequibo Islands/West Demerara given the new developments within GuySuCo.”
But the Corporation in a statement earlier today said that while it will not be drawn into “idle and unsubstantiated chatter with anyone”, it must aspire to state the facts on every occasion, noting that it has the livelihood of some 7,747 families in its care.
“We must debunk and reject the grossly inaccurate public statements allegedly made by one Mervyn Williams on his social media page. We are also advised that this person is a former Member of Parliament and thus we expected nothing from him but the most honorable of behavior; not an attitude of mind that is unstable and reflect statements that are patently false,” the company said.
It said that Williams’ allegation about cane dumping is “patently false”.
While admitting that the Uitvlugt factory has issues, at no time did management consider the dumping of cane.
It noted that there was a mechanical failure of the Number One Mill turbine gearbox that resulted in a halt on Saturday, March 5th, 2022. GuySuCo said that a technical team “kicked into action” and had the required repairs commence at a fabrication workshop.
The promised delivery date from the workshop is tomorrow, and if this plan is fulfilled, grinding operations will recommence on the evening of March 9 when some 600 punts of cane are scheduled to be crushed.
GuySuCo said that experts within the corporation are testing the cane every day to determine the purity level which will help to make production decisions.
“However, at no time did the Executive Manager consider dumping any of these canes and thus we are shocked that a non-expert at sugar production can arrive at such a conclusion. Guysuco is calling on Mr. Williams to withdraw these demonstrably erroneous statements on the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate,” the company said.
GuySuCo is urging the public to visit its Head Office at LBI Estate to share their concerns and seek clarifications on any matter pertaining to the advancement of the Industry.
Even if true, which is not likely, which group of criminals was responsible for literal destruction of the sugar industry, its factories and the livelihood of thousands of Indians?