GuySuCo restructuring picking up pace – Ramsammy says it’s necessary to improve production

By Samuel Sukhnandan –

Discussions are ongoing between government and stakeholders to restructure the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to increase future production levels. This is according to Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who told Guyana Times International in an exclusive interview on Friday, that this is one step being taken to improve the sugar industry and ensure that it remains highly competitive.

Dr Ramsammy said the first meeting was held on Thursday between a team from the ministry; and officials of GuySuCo; the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU); and other stakeholders. The purpose of the meeting was to look at what needs to be done to restructure and reorient GuySuCo holistically.
Dr Ramsammy said that GuySuCo has done certain things the same way for centuries. He said, “It has had two crops from the beginning and it still does. There are two crops that last between 13 and 20 weeks. It is clear that in recent years GuySuCo will not have that length of opportunity or days anymore… since during grinding, dry weather is necessary, because of the machines in the fields.”
The minister posited that the most GuySuCo will have, if this new climate pattern continues, is maybe 10 weeks of dry weather. Owing to climate change, there is rarely a dry season.

Dwindling labour
Minister Ramsammy told Guyana Times International that the industry has suffered for many years from a dwindling labour pool, and discussions are also being held on how to deal with this issue.
Seeking new or external labour would be impossible, although many African countries like Swaziland pay sugar workers far less than Guyana does. This is simply because the entire African sugar industry faces the same problem. Dr Ramsammy recalled that during the 50s and 60s, people in communities like Albion, Skeldon, Blairmont, Leonora, and Wales, depended on the sugar industry for their only livelihood.
However, today it is the other way around, the estates now depend on the people in these communities for sustenance. This has been achieved through government’s initiative to diversify the economy and empower sugar workers to achieve the dreams of their ancestors to move away from cutting cane.
Dr Ramsammy, however, noted, “We will still have a place for cane cutters. All the available ones can be accommodated in the industry still, because there are going to be times and areas we cannot mechanise. So, they will still be needed.”
Further, the minister explained that at present, the number of cane harvesters needed to cut four to five million tonnes of cane to produce 400,000 tonnes of sugar, exceed the current pool of available labour. Additionally, the machines available to the industry cannot work in the fields, since the design of the cane fields have remained the same since the slavery and indentureship periods, when manual labour was abundant and the fields’ narrow lay-out reflected this reality.
Minister Ramsammy said discussions between all stakeholders will continue and changes will be made to improve the industry’s performance, based on recommendations.