The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), as the principal bargaining agent in the sugar industry, is deeply concerned over the current trend of sugar production.
As of October 26, 2024, the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) produced 24,711 tonnes of sugar, representing just 39 per cent of its 63,276 tonne target. As much as 60 per cent of the cropping period has been exhausted, and the GAWU is apprehensive that the deficit cannot be closed in the remaining cropping weeks. From our perspective, the industry’s sad situation cannot be delinked from the management of its cultivation and agricultural operations.
Before the commencement of the crop, the Union drew GuySuCo’s attention to several important issues that required intervention. It appears that our concerns were brushed aside. Recently, we have expressed concern about the production rate and trajectory. It seems that those charged with agricultural management in the industry have, for reason/s best known to themselves, chosen to turn a Nelson’s Eye.
Given the conducive weather to mechanised sugar operations over the past few weeks, the GAWU is puzzled that daily production levels remained constrained. It begs the question: What are the factor/s which have inhibited production levels? The industry remains heavily reliant on manual cane harvesting complemented by mechanised loading, a practice that is now decades old.
The major challenge revolves around the quality of canes being produced. While the industry cane yields have been higher than anticipated, though well below their potential, the sucrose content remains depressed. We are conscious that the El Nino drought conditions would have had an impact. However, given the collective managerial experience in GuySuCo, better planning could have been advanced to mitigate some of the challenges.
It appears that rather than addressing their difficulties in a complete and frank manner; the GuySuCo agricultural leadership is preparing to deploy rationales and justifications to obfuscate to excuse their poor performance. We are sure that we will hear about issues related to punt weights, standards, and work attendance in the coming days, among other things. Of course, those who have followed the industry would know that these are certainly not new excuses but are the same old scapegoats – the workers and the weather – that will be deployed to grant coverage for the eventual output.
The GAWU remains convinced that the sugar industry can succeed, but as we have said before and reiterate once again, knowledgeable and capable management is an essential prerequisite. We urge policymakers to consider ridding the industry of those who have anointed themselves as the ‘saviour’ but have placed it in a stranglehold and seek to blame everyone and everything but themself for the circumstances in which the GuySuCo finds itself.
