President Bharrat Jagdeo and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud unveil the plaque of the new packaging plant at Enmore. Applauding are Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony. Also in picture are: Chairman of the GuySuCo board, Dr Nanda Gopaul, and Donald Ramotar, PPP presidential candidate
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) on Monday, May 9, commissioned its US$12.5 million Enmore, East Coast Demerara packaging plant, which is intended to transform sugar production, moving from the traditional sole output of raw sugar to the export of an additional 40,000 tonnes of packaged sugar per year initially.
In later years, the factory would see production of packaged sugar rising to 80,000 tonnes per annum, allowing GuySuCo to enjoy a premium price for the value- added product on the international market.
Currently, GuySuCo produces and exports only about 8000 tonnes of packaged sugar per year.
At the well- attended grand ceremony to commission the plant on Monday, President Bharrat Jagdeo dubbed the initiative evidence of his administration’s unwavering commitment to tackle current challenges facing the industry and to keep sugar alive. This, he stressed, is important not only because of the thousands that depend on the industry, but to maintain and increase its six per cent annual contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He used the opportunity, too, to call on workers, from the level of managers to the fields, to support the state’s investments.
He made specific reference to the poor labour turnout that hampers production at times.
Additionally, he maintained that government’s investments and GuySuCo’s move toward value-added production and diversification, aided by modernisation, is exactly “what it takes to keep the sugar industry going in Guyana” even at a time when others internationally and in the Caribbean have closed their own industries due to the pressures.
The president alluded to the 36 per cent price cut by the European Union (EU), which is now causing GuySuCo to lose Gy$9 billion in revenue per year. Even as he thanked the EU for its financial support to build the packaging plant, Jagdeo wasted no time lamenting the “unilateral decision” by the EU to end a more than 36-year- old preferential agreement with Guyana and other ACP sugar producing states.
Construction of a sugar refinery has been part of the state’s plans to modernise and diversify production of sugar. Recent investments to this effect included the US$200 million Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project and mechanisation activities, which complement the Enmore facility.
Built by Indian contractor Surendra Engineering Corporation, the packaging factory integrates some of the most updated sugar processing facilities and equipment.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said it signals bright days ahead for the industry, with hopes for increased vibrancy and competitiveness. Such an investment, he said, requires “a class attitude and approach” by the board, management and workers to achieve targets set for the sector.
GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Bhim stated, too, that the packaging facility represents significant achievements in the industry’s modernisation and expansion programmes. He noted that the ‘Project Gold’ initiative involves two components.
The first was the upgrade of the existing sugar processing house at Enmore that involved acquisition and installation of several pieces of modern equipment. The second phase comprised construction of the new plant to produce packaged sugar to meet the high demand globally.
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