| …Owes banks $5BBy Leonard GildarieThe Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) says that losses for this year are projected at $2.5B with almost $5B owed to banks.Additionally, says Chief Executive, Errol Hanoman, the company is facing a grim financial situation with almost $1.8B owed to creditors at the end of September.Last year, GuySuCo, one of Guyana’s biggest foreign exchange earners, declared losses of $4B and indebtedness to the banks of $3B.The declarations by Hanoman were made yesterday during a televised press conference at the National Communications Network (NCN) to discuss the countrywide strike called by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) after talks broke down between the union and GuySuCo on Tuesday.More than 15,000 workers are on strike for more wages and demanding better working arrangements.Painting a bleak picture of the company’s current position, the official said that given the grave financial situation worldwide, many companies would have opted to close estates and send workers home.“Instead GuySuCo, has come up with a bold plan to turn the industry around. Without the turn around plan, it is unlikely that the industry would survive another three years.”Stating the company was confident of the reversal of fortunes for the industry in light of the turn around plan, Hanoman expressed concern over the likely impact the strike will have on bankers, creditors and customers.The state owned company expects to spend over $45B in the next four years to improve the industry.These include the completion of the Skeldon project by the end of next year with the expectations that the factory there will be operating at full capacity by 2011.Plans also include the expansion of Blairmont Estates and the re-organization of the East Demerara Estates into a modern agri-industrial complex. The investments will also cover the construction of ethanol plant and refinery and by 2014, more than 40 per cent of cultivation fully mechanized while the remainder semi-mechanized.This means that by 2012, workers will only have to cut canes- no longer will they have to carry it since loaders will be doing this job.According to Hanoman, if all goes well,Cheap Jerseys From China, a target of 400,000 tonnes of sugar will be set within four years.The Chief Executive disclosed that as of last June, more than 35 per cent of the industry’s cultivation was uneconomical. With the past four years being the wettest in 50 years, the situation “seriously jeopardised not only our tillage and planting operations but also a significant amount of the follow-up work. Harvesting under these conditions led to soil compaction which was also a major concern.”So far local banks have been “very supportive” of the company, says GuySuCo’s Chairman, Dr Nanda Gopaul. The company’s case that it was still viable was bolstered by the fact that it has a turn around plan to pull industry out.However, the company’s top man warned that unless every worker comes forward, the efforts would all be futile.According to Dr Gopaul, fortunately Guyana has not been badly damaged by the world financial problems. He alluded to Ford Motor Company in the US where workers took pay cuts to keep their jobs and the company afloat.With world prices of sugar high because of shortages, the outlook is good.He disclosed that the last few weeks, production consistently exceeded the 10,000 tonnes mark.He also argued that the other sugar industries in the region, although better “endowed” still closed down.Although faced with EU price cuts, which will see revenues dropping by $9 billion, GuySuCo as part of its expansion, plan to meet demands have 2000 new acres of cane land added to the Blairmont Estate. There will also be increased capacity at Enmore with a project underway to bag sugar, a value-added feature.Dr Gopaul acknowledged that another huge challenge facing the industry overtime was the loss of skilled staff resulting in weak management and supervision.With declining work ethics, poor workers’ turnout, and the EU price cuts, GuySuCo has still managed to satisfy quotas for the EU market, and breaking into the US market where 15,000 tonnes of sugar will be sold there this year. |
