Members of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), earlier this afternoon, engaged President David Granger and Cabinet members on the current status of operations at the organisation, as well as future plans
November 1,2016 Source.
WITH its operations teetering due to a significant shortfall in production and revenues, members of the Board of Directors and management of GuySuCo briefed Cabinet on Tuesday on the current status of the corporation, which is seeking $18B to stay afloat next year.In a statement the Ministry of the Presidency said that members of the Board of Directors of the corporation Tuesday engaged President David Granger and Cabinet members on the current status of operations at the organisation, as well as future plans. Cabinet is being held at the Guyana Defence Force officers’ Mess to facilitate repair work at the Ministry of the Presidency.
“Cabinet was treated to a full presentation by Chief Executive Officer of GuySuCo, Mr. Errol Hanoman and Chairman of the Board, Professor Clive Thomas. At the close of the presentation, President Granger said that the report will be thoroughly examined and discussed at Cabinet in an effort to make a determination on the industry, which will be beneficial to all concerned,” the MOTP statement said.
The Stabroek News reported earlier this week that as of October 22, sugar production for the second crop was 70,574 tonnes, just over half of the revised target of 137,764 tonnes. The corporation experienced also a poor first crop of 56,821 tonnes- some 23,000 tonnes lower than its target of 80,270 tonnes.
Only last week The National Assembly approved an additional $2B for the cash-strapped entity which has already received $9B in subventions for the year. The amount was listed on the third supplementary financial paper for the year, and was approved by the Committee of Supply after much debate. In 2015, the corporation had received $12B in subsidies from the government and after receiving $9B in this year’s budget, GuySuCo asked the government for an additional $3.5B. Of this amount, $2B was approved last Thursday evening in the House.
The corporation has also projected a cash deficit in 2017 and will be seeking a cash injection of $18.5B for 2017 from the government if the status quo remains. However, during consideration of the $2B, Opposition Member of Parliament, Needkumar, requested Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder to detail the breakdown of the allocation. Holder explained that the said sum represents an additional subsidy to meet routine expenditure related to the production of the sugar second crop. The minister also explained that the $2B is an addition to the subsidies given to GuySuCo in the 2016 Budget, given the negative impacts of the El Nino phenomenon.
Opposition MP, Komal Chand, also asked the minister to lay over in the House documentation detailing the breakdown of the $2B. According to the minister, the breakdown includes: $1.2B for wages, $160M for fuel, $464M for fertiliser and $176M for creditors, of which $30M per week is going to private cane farmers. After listing the breakdown of how the $2B will be expended, the minister committed to making the documents available to the Opposition MP. The sum, which was included on a supplementary financial paper detailing expenditure of $9.5B, was then approved, unopposed, by the Committee of Supply.
In September, GuySuco said it told the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union for the second time in exactly one month that it could not afford to pay increased wages, salaries and allowances for 2016.
