The president revealed that this sweeping transformation will unfold during the PPP/C’s second term in office, reshaping GuySuCo into a modern, sustainable contributor to national development.
In an exclusive comment to the Department of Public Information (DPI), President Ali addressed the state of collapse his administration inherited in 2020. He described it as a‘crippled sector,’ stripped of assets and drained of human capital.
“We had to recreate that infrastructure, rebuild drainage and irrigation systems, clear fields that became forests… that was basically what it was and then reinvest in capital goods,” President Ali reminded the DPI.
The previous APNU/AFC Administration closed four sugar estates, namely the Wales, East Demerara, Rose Hall, and Skeldon Estates, between 2016 and 2017. This resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs, reduced household income, and hardships for a number of communities. This led to a decline in sugar production and exports.
Consequently, the last five years have focused on restoring infrastructure to get sugar production back on track. The government has also reengaged displaced workers and reintroduced private cane farmers.
Billions of dollars have also been injected into mechanising some aspects of production and modernising facilities to boost output. As a matter of fact, two packaging plants are being established in Albion and Blairmont to improve value-added products.
This groundwork, President Ali noted, is not the end of the road; it marks the beginning of the Corporation’s transformation, which will be implemented in the PPP/C’s next term in office.
“We are now looking at the entire ecosystem of GuySuCo… how it can support national development, how it can be part of our economic expansion,” he said.
The president expressed his disagreement with the false perception of Christopher Ram, a chartered accountant, who recently said the sugar industry is not on a path of revival. “I don’t think Christopher Ram is unaware of what was required to rescue the sector. I think Christopher Ram is just being politically convenient for the time,” President Ali said.
As GuySuCo transitions into the next phase, the focus is shifting to modernisation, efficiency, and diversification. The plan includes continued investment in machinery, support for mechanisation, and more opportunities for workers who will not only participate but will own and lead this exciting transformation.
The president elaborated further, stating that“based on the projections of what we want to achieve and the current labour availability, we must have technology, we must have modernisation, we must have more precision type of farming to have greater yield, greater production.”
In the 2025 budget, GuySuCo was allocated 13.3 billion to ensure that work on an additional 3,000 hectares of land for cultivation, which will be done through mechanical means. The sum also covers the construction of more than 17 kilometres of all-weather access roads.
More than $40 billion has been expended by the current administration to resuscitate the industry, which will play a critical role in the country’s development in the coming years. (Department of Public Information)
