Guysuso to sell off large swaths of land to Central Housing

State Minister Joseph Harmon made the announcement on Thursday and said the sale of land will be facilitated by Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma.

Guysuso to sell off large swaths of land to Central Housing

The cash-strapped Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is expected to sell off large swaths of its lands to the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) in an effort to meet its financial obligations.

State Minister Joseph Harmon made the announcement on Thursday and said the sale of land will be facilitated by Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma.

Mr. Sharma had submitted a report to Cabinet on the state of GuySuCo.

Harmon said Cabinet considered the report and authorized the Minister to assist the management of Guysuco with a discussion with CHPA on the sale of lands.

He said the Minister is to also facilitate the speedy payment for such lands to GuySuCo. The sugar corporation in recent years has been heavily subsidized by the government.

However, with the state-owned GuySuCo seeking more money to offset expenses, the government as part of its diversification efforts will move to facilitate the sale of land.

This is not the first time that GuySuCo will be selling land to the housing sector for use by citizens.

Although the lands have already been identified, Harmon did not disclose which plots of land will be included in this sale but he said the move needs to be completed urgently.

GuySuCo had asked the government for $2 billion as an emergency intervention but the administration believes that through the sale of lands, the corporation will be able to garner that revenue.

Harmon said GuySuCo will definitely need more funds before the end of the year and the government intends to address that at the appropriate time.

In July, the government had told the National Assembly that it intends to hire a top accounting firm to help assess the value of assets of the state-owned company to be sold.

$130 million has been allocated for a Special Purpose Unit to spearhead the sale.

GuySuCo is moving to close several estates by the end of this year with production being limited to Albion, Blairmont and the Uitvlugt Estates.

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