The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has moved to increase the price for sugar on the local market by 5%. This was confirmed by acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GuySuCo, Paul Bhim, who has indicated that this new increase was implemented earlier this month (February).
In defending the company’s decision, Bhim said that over the past nine years, there has been no increase in the price for the commodity on the local market.
This increase comes at a time when the Government is downsizing the industry and laying off thousands of sugar workers.
Asked whether this increase was also triggered as a result of the reconfiguration of GuySuCo and the sugar industry as a whole, the acting CEO tried to brush aside those assumptions.
The increase is for each 50-kilogram bag of sugar, which has now increased from $4900 to $5145.
GuySuCo has been undergoing several major changes ever since Government announced plans to downsize the industry and close several of the remaining sugar estates in Guyana.
Already, the closure of the estates and the sacking of thousands of workers have affected the economy.
As Government’s plans to downsize the industry start to take effect, the Opposition has been vigorously defending the rights of workers and has even urged Government to rethink its position.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has outlined that in Guyana, sugar is not a company, but an industry, hence Government needs to be more thoughtful when making decisions about the industry.
