The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) yesterday held its 2012 “Honour’s Roll” ceremony at which 28 workers from Albion, Blairmont, Demerara Sugar Terminal, Enmore, La Bonne Intention (LBI), Rose Hall, Skeldon, Uitvlugt and Wales sugar estates were honoured at a ceremony at the Blairmont Community centre for their outstanding work and dedication to the industry.
Last year, GuySuCo’s production was relatively low when compared to previous years, however, despite the odds, the company saw it necessary to honour the persons who would have contributed to the company’s output.
Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy in his address to the workers said that even as the company celebrates the history and success of the industry in this difficult time, there are some persons who seem to be happy with the company’s situation.
Total production for 2012 was 218,070 tonnes, a contraction of 7.8 percent. This was attributed to industrial relations disruptions and inclement weather patterns which continued to plague the industry during the first half of the year.
A dry weather spell aided the industry during the second crop; however, the first crop contraction of 33.4 percent could not be compensated for by the second crop growth of 13.3 percent.
Commending the workers for their hard work in sustaining the industry, he said, “The glory days of GuySuCo are not at an end…we will rise again to even more glorious days that we have had in the history of the sugar industry,” he said.
This industry, he said, had to be brought out of its almost death bed in the 1980s, and Government succeeded in bringing it back.
GuySuco, he said, will continue to be a pillar in the development of the economy as it is more that an industry, it is essential to the country and too important to fail.
“We all have one goal and that goal is a better Guyana…we were once a poor highly rejected bankrupt country, and today we are a middle income country,” he said, as Guyana has proven that difficulties are not insurmountable.
