Sugar production down 47.7% as GUYSUCO continues to fail under PPP

The Bank of Guyana’s report for the first quarter of 2022 shows that sugar production had a 47.7% contraction compared to the same period in 2021. This makes the first quarter of 2022 the worst quarter in the history of Guyana’s sugar industry.

Recent reports show GUYSUCO producing only 13,076 tons of sugar in the first crop. Falling well short of the set target of 20,261. In 2019, under the APNU+AFC, GUYSUCO had produced 33,531 tonnes of sugar in the first crop. Making 2022’s first crop production 61% lower than what was achieved by the coalition.

Uitvlugt Estate, which produced 20,270 tons of sugar in 2019, managed to produce just 66 tons of sugar in the first crop of 2022. This is due to the PPP’s failure to procure and maintain needed equipment after being in government for two years.

“We had better production with worse rains (in the past),” said the leader of the Guyana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) when responding to President Ali’s attempt to blame the heavy rains for all the woes of the agriculture sector.

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