Opposition Member of Parliament and AFC Executive, Khemraj Ramjattan is challenging the Government once again over the state of the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the main sugar union’s apparent complicity in the state of the sector.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) recently expressed worry of the low sugar production for this year despite billions of dollars being spent on the industry. According to GAWU it is unacceptable for Guysuco, to be nowhere near its production target for the year when the year is almost done.

But at a press conference on Friday, Mr. Ramjattan said he believes that the stance taken by GAWU is nothing more than pretence.
He said GAWU ought to press the Government to embark on a programme to right size the industry so that it can minimize losses. He said the union is unlikely to take that position since it could threaten its own existence.

“What this means is that there will be a threat to its financial existence and so GAWU cannot take a principled prudent stance into the future of the sugar sector and so it will shed crocodile tears as it recently did,” the AFC leader said.

In response, GAWU said it has long expressed positive support for the industry’s mechanisation efforts, noting their complementary effects and impact on productivity.

However, the sugar union said it fully supports the investments being made by the PPP government in hopes of turning around the industry. In a letter to the press, GAWU’s President, Seepaul Narine said the union has not forgotten that it was the former APNU+AFC Government that Ramjattan served that closed sugar estates and sent workers home.

But Mr. Ramjattan argues that the Government cannot continue to pour billions of tax dollars into something that is not working.

“Additionally, subvention to Guysuco from the PPP government for this year alone stands at $9.2B. Since the PPP’s coming to office in 2020 an approximate sum of $43b has so far been inputted into that corporation. So, the sweet talk of improvement in production was thus all hollow”, Ramjattan said.

The Opposition MP believes that the sugar industry suffers fundamental problems which cannot be solved by replacing CEOs or creating expectations.

He contends that the cost to produce sugar here is extremely high and the Government is creating expectations it will eventually find hard to manage.

GuySuco recorded losses of more than $4 Billion in 2023. In 2021 and 2022, the company recorded more than $18 Billion in losses.

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