Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during an interview on Wednesday with a social media commentator “Critics”, said that his Government is considering the hemp legislation to convert some of the lands at Skeldon Estate into hemp cultivation and aquaculture.
The VP is now utilizing the APNU+AFC initiative of “right-sizing” the industry as against reopening the closed estates. The VP noted that the production of sugar will be significantly reduced because most investors do not want to grow cane for sugar, they want to sell power to the Government and they want a price for the power which is extraordinarily high on a long-term contract.”
Back in 2017, Economist Dr. Clive Thomas speaking with Kaieteur News on the realities of the sugar industry, said, “The infrastructural problems that plagued the US$200M Skeldon Sugar Factory is a ticking time bomb that will detonate soon; unless tough but necessary decisions are taken”.
Dr. Thomas, then Chairman of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) stated, ” The reality before us is that the factory has lots of faults; it is badly designed and poorly constructed. The factory is just not properly built. The cost for the repairs needed is about, if not over US$60M ($12B). It is that big of a disaster.”
