Guyana to ramp up sugar production at Skeldon Estate

The Government of Guyana under the leadership of President Irfaan Ali, has made the decision to make use of 5,000 hectares of land at the Skeldon Estate in the Eastern part of the nation, to boost sugar production numbers.

12th of March 2024

Guyana: The Government of Guyana under the leadership of President Irfaan Ali, has made the decision to make use of 5,000 hectares of land at the Skeldon Estate in the Eastern part of the nation, to boost sugar production numbers.

President Ali made this announcement while speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the new branch being opened by the Republic Bank in Williamsburg. The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has already purchased new varieties of sugarcane to be planted there and clarified that the production process will be mechanized for increased efficiency.

The expectation is that through these initiatives, production requirements can be met in 2024 and exceeded upon in 2025, as the systems settle in place and reach peak productivity.

The former APNU+AFC government, which was elected in 2015, made quick work of closing estates such as Skeldon and Rose Hall in Berbice, Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara and Wales on the West Bank of Demerara.

Contrary to the aforementioned approach, the government established by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) said that it is undertaking the task of slowly reinvigorating the sugar industry by reopening estates such as the Skeldon Sugar Estate.

The Rose Hall Estate, which is also in Berbice, was reopened in similar fashion last October. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Enmore Estate is now in the hands of a private investor who is in the midst of reopening it as a sugar refinery.

President Ali made it very clear that the government of Guyana intends to train sugar workers and upgrade their skill sets in the necessary ways, so as to ensure that they can be employed in a more modernized sugar industry.

This is a key initiative for Guyana, especially considering the fact that sugar and rice are the two main crops that the nation produces. It has also been said that reforms will be brought to rice production, to modernize the process and ensure that it meets Guyana’s demands, as well as global standards.