Guyana to set up Sugar refinery at Enmore Estate to ramp up brown sugar production

The government of Guyana is focusing on increasing the production of brown sugar to 100,000 tonnes annually starting this year. For this purpose, the government is planning to build a sugar refinery at the Enmore Estate in East Coast Demerara.

According to the reports, the Enmore facility project is expected to increase the production of brown sugar by up to 180,000 metric tonnes. It is also possible that the country may have to import some sugar for refining to boost supplies.

The President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, said, “Whatever we can supply, we’ll supply, then we’ll have to fill the gap, so refining will occur here.” Continuing his statement, he added, “The facility is expected to provide opportunities for ‘hundreds of upskilled jobs.’

Noting this, this refinery had been shut down since 2018. While speaking to the Private Sector Commission (PSC) during the annual dinner, President Ali stated that the project is being supported by the investor, who is about to finalise his investment decision soon. However, he kept the investor’s name anonymous. 

“We have an investor, who is in the final stage of an investment decision soon, to convert the Enmore sugar estate that is now closed into a sugar refinery”, added President Ali.

Notably, the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) conducted research on whether Plantation White Sugar could be used as an alternative to white sugar.

However, the idea of Belize to impose a 40 per cent General External Tariff (CET) on refined sugar produced outside the region was opposed by GMSA (Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association).

As per the statement of GMSA, if producers use plantation white sugar instead of refined sugar due to quality issues, then the products will no longer be acceptable to consumers and will not be able to compete on a quality basis with the products coming from the region. 

Additionally, due to such initiatives, the country will be able to create employment opportunities for its citizens. The news has been shared on various social media pages, and many people across the country took to their Facebook handles to laud the work of the government. 

While reacting to the news, a person named Millie Roberts wrote, “I am very happy for the Guyanese people, they have a government who cared about the citizens. Leadership at its best.”

Another comment, by FB user Shazim Ali read as, “That’s a leader who cares for his people. Man with a vision.”