President Dr. Irfaan Ali has issued one of his strongest warnings yet to the management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), insisting that the billions being pumped into the industry must translate into higher productivity and concrete results by next year or there will be a shake-up at the top.
“Sugar is far from where we want it to be. But we are seeing signs of recovery. Not at the pace at which we want that recovery,” the President said, as he assessed the state of the sugar industry.
Making it clear that his administration’s patience is not unlimited, Dr. Ali bluntly signalled that the current leadership of the state-owned sugar company is on borrowed time if performance does not improve.
“If the managers in GuySuCo can’t deliver to us next year from the investment we are putting in GuySuCo, we will have to find a new management system to give us the type of results that we are investing in to get,” he declared.
“There is no shortcut. We must get the results we are investing for. We must get the productivity we are investing for.”
The President’s remarks come against the backdrop of sustained underperformance in the sugar sector despite heavy state support.
Between 2020 and 2024, the Government injected roughly $45 billion into the sugar industry to recapitalise estates, repair and replace critical equipment, and push mechanisation as part of a wider effort to restore sugar as a viable pillar of the economy.
Yet, last year GuySuCo managed to produce just 47,123 tonnes of sugar against a target of 63,276 tonnes, which is a shortfall of almost 21 per cent.
At his 2024 year-end press conference, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha did not hide his displeasure with the corporation’s performance and publicly echoed the President’s frustration with the management.
