Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha today defended Government’s decision to continuously bail out the cash-strapped Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), telling the Committee of Supply in the National Assembly, that the recently reopened Rose Hall Estate will be one of the most productive estates, despite its current underperformance. 

At the time, Minister Mustapha was defending the use of $643.69M from the Contingency Fund to assist GuySuCo in paying wages and salaries. Of the total sum, $383M was used to pay wages while salaries totalled $172M. The remaining $88M was used to pay pension. 

In response to a series of questions posed by APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, Vinceroy Jordan, the Agriculture Minister explained that the opening of the Rose Hall Estate had warranted the added subvention. 

“We reopened Rose Hall Estate. Rose Hall Estate is now producing sugar and we have employed a total of 543 new employees and we employed these people because of the mechanization programme we have started and I must also say, those persons are also from the area of Rose Hall, who were severed when the factory was closed,” the Agriculture Minister explained. 

He refuted claims that GuySuCo, notwithstanding receiving additional funding, was unable to pay wages and salaries. 

Minister Mustapha said as of now, the Rose Hall Estate is performing below expectation. He said initially the target was set at 5,000 tonnes but due to the state of the lands, the factory was unable to meet its target. 

“Now we have produced a 1000 tonne of sugar, just over a 1000 tonne because the cane and the lands that we expected to meet, we did not meet when we went there, so now, we are doing the mechanisation and I know for a fact that Rose Hall will be one of the most productive estates again in GuySuCo,” Minister Mustapha told the House.  

Asked by MP Jordan whether the Rose Hall Estate would have made a profit on the sugar produced and sold since its reopening, the Agriculture Minister the estate is now working to rebuild its capacity. 

“The first crop, the initial crop, you have an estate that is now producing once again, that was closed by the government then, now we are trying to rebuild that estate. The estate is running effectively, all the parts have been rehabilitated and shortly, we will make profit, but you can’t expect to make profit in the first crop, which produced 1031 tons,” the Agriculture Minister said.

He said future crops will be better as the sugar corporation focuses its on mechanisation.

However, Opposition MP Khemraj Ramjattan registered his disappointment that the Agriculture Minister was unable to provide the House with a clear timeline when the Rose Hall Estate is expected to become profitable. 

“Mr Chair, we have a lot of projection unlike the opposition now, when we asked them to do a socio-economic study at Rose Hall. This year, we set a target, and we will reach that target. Next year we will set a target and we will reach that target. And we will continue to set projections. For example, we said we want to start the mechanisation process, we have started it, we are now advancing in that stage, because we know for a fact harvesters, cane cutters, we are finding so many cane cutters now, that is why we want to mechanised. So the point I am trying to say, GuySuCo is moving into a different phase and the honourable member must appreciate what we are doing” he said. 

Noting that GuySuCo is the single largest employer in the country, Minister Mustapha told the Committee that the Government will continue to invest in the sugar corporation to keep the industry alive. 

The Committee of Supply was considering Financial Paper 4 of 2023, which accounted for some $1.899B of funds already used by the Government from the Contingency Fund.

The Government is also seeking an additional $2 Billion in supplementary funding for GuySuco.

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