Second sugar crop underway

Sugar workers harvesting canes in the fields

Second crop underway - 73,000 tonnes targeted - sugar growth forecast slashed

The Minister of Finance – through the 2019 Mid-Year Report, which considers the nation’s economic performance after the first half of the year – disclosed that the GuySuCo is aiming to produce 73,516 tonnes sugar during the crop. Through the report, the nation also learnt that the industry’s growth has been revised downwards. Initially, when the Minister presented the 2019 Budget in November last year, the sugar industry was expected to grow by over 15 per cent. However, just a few months later, the growth figure has been slashed significantly, with just a 2.3 per cent improvement being forecasted for 2019. What can only be described as a tremendous decline has seen several explanations proffered by the Minister. In the mid-year report, we saw the decline attributed to late commencement of the first crop as a result of extended out-of-crop maintenance and late delivery of spares and supplies. Looking ahead the Minister also disclosed that delays in procurement of important inputs such as fertilizers and spare parts will bedevil the industry for the remainder of 2019, with spillover effects expected into next year as well.

The Minister’s disclosure is a mouthful, and indicates that all is not well regarding the management of the industry. While the report did indicate that cane yields have risen, it failed to correlate with the expected reduced production that is forecasted. It seems to indicate that cane quantity but not quality has improved. Both factors are important tenets for the industry to succeed. Undoubtedly, the industry’s turnaround and success are linked inextricably to the thousands of the industry’s workers who keep the wheels of production turning. It is disheartening and saddening to again point out that the workers continue to be treated in a clearly contemptuous manner, facing denial after denial. The workers, in the year 2019, are enjoying pay rates last adjusted in 2014, though cost-of-living expenses risen significantly since that time. On the matter of production, information reaching the Union, indicated that production as at week ending August 24, 2019 stood at 3,408 tonnes sugar, 1,421 tonnes sugar behind the targeted production at the time.

Intriguingly and interestingly, the Union, through information coming to hand, recognized that the Corporation has targeted itself to production of 75,843 tonnes. The GuySuCo, from the information we saw, expects Albion Estate to produce 39,543 tonnes sugar; Blairmont Estate is expected to realize 23,284 tonnes sugar, whereas Uitvlugt Estate is expected to contribute 13,016 tonnes sugar. It appears that the Finance Minister was misinformed, or GuySuCo’s, numbers are a miscalculation. Whatever is the case, it is now symptomatic of the coined ‘new GuySuCo’ which ought to be, at this time, undergoing a revitalization with the proceeds of the $30B bond, but rather is now-a-days seemingly caught up in a war of words, among other things, as there are varying outlooks regarding the industry’s future. Of important note is that sugar in 2019, as it was all the time, remains simply “too big to fail”. Notwithstanding an ill-considered and completely haphazard miniaturization, the sugar industry remains an important source of employment and sustenance in rural Guyana. Tens of thousands of Guyanese eke out a livelihood through the industry’s multifaceted role in society. It is to the industry’s and country’s detriment that the relevant decision-makers seem not to appreciate this.