Opposition Member of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan and Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha today went head-to-head in the National Assembly over Government’s handling of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco).
MP Jordan, during his budget debate presentation, said despite the many investments and increased spending by the PPP government towards GuySuCo, the sugar company is still not performing well.
He said Guysuco is producing 50% less sugar today, than under the Coalition Administration despite of the investments being made.
“Mr. Speaker in short, Guysuco received approximately $4B in support from the APNU+AFC government annually with plans for it to return to optimum production and sustainably and viability. It produced at an average 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually. While under the PPP/C Guysuco received over $30B in just under three years and now is producing an average of about 50,000 metric tonnes of sugar annual,” Jordan told the House.
The shadow Agriculture Minister said, the Government should be honest with the people of Guyana, explaining that while it boasts that sugar production has increased by 28%, it must also tell the nation that Guysuco’s target was revised downwards three times.
“When in fact, sugar production took a drastic decline from the last complete year of the coalition where in 2019, the last complete year in office, we produce 92,00o tonnes of sugar, now sir in 2022 and 2023, Guysuco produced 47,000 metric tonnes and scrapped another 53,000 metric tonnes and is now producing 60,000 metric tonnes of sugar,” Jordan said.
In response, the Agriculture Minister said the sugar industry actually started to decline under the Coalition Government and not the PPP. The decline of the sugar industry started in the early 2000’s
But Minister Mustapha said since the PPP’s return to office the sugar industry has become viable again.
“We have seen growth in the sugar industry, last year, we have seen a 28% growth in the sugar industry and this year it will go another 66% to ensure that we meet 100,000 tonnes of sugar, that is the turn over and progress we talking about,” Mustapha noted.
The Minister said government will continue to invest in the sugar industry, and that the reopening of closed sugar estate is one of the top priorities of the government to ensure that persons are back at work and the economies of communities with sugar estates are revived.
He said investments will also continue across the Agriculture sector, noting that since its return to office three years ago, the current Government has spent more than $120 Billion on the sector.
Mustapha said many other sectors within Agriculture continue to record growth, and he believes that’s a direct result of the investment by the Government.
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