Albion estate surpasses weekly production target

See below full release from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo):

The Guyana Sugar Corporation is pleased to announce that the Albion Estate has exceeded its weekly production target by 7% in the week ending November 11, 2023. This is the fifth time the estate has exceeded its weekly production target since grinding operations began for the second crop of 2023.

The estate continues to remain focused on its crop target and is making all efforts to boost in its overall cane supply to the factory to improve on the factory efficiency during the second crop of 2023. To this end some 36 bridges in the cultivation were rehabilitated; some unusable for over 12 years in order to improve access to the canes. Further some 22 tractors that were suffering from a shortage of spares were all repaired over this crop and 95% of the field machines were re-fitted with new tyres during October 2023 to increase the availability and reliability of these machines.

Favourable weather conditions in 2023 during these “El Nino” conditions have also played a major role in this Estate passing this target this week. As a gentle reminder, the rainy season started on November 4, 2020, November 11, 2021 and November 14, 2022 which contributed to a swift end to those crops. The Hydromet Office of Guyana in its November 3, 2023 forecast has predicted below-normal rainfall for the remainder of November 2023 and these conditions are conducive to the Industry harvesting the remaining canes identified for harvesting.

Moving forward into 2024, the estate will continue to prioritize innovation and efficiency to further enhance its productivity and streamline its production process including the acceleration of its mechanization projects to ensure the cane supply increase as man and machine work side by side to unleash the potential of this Estate.

Estate Manager, Mr. Mana, in expressing his satisfaction stated ‘the successful achievement of the target for the fifth time is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and effective strategies implemented by the estate. He took the opportunity to thank all of the workers, the Union, the sister Estate and the Management and the Board for their continued support on this final push to reach the Estate Annual Target.

Management is confident that with continued commitment and dedication, the estate is well-positioned to maintain its success in future crops. This achievement will boost the income of workers at Albion Estate, who have worked a minimum of 80% of the days available for the week the target was achieved, and will earn themselves an additional day’s pay (tax free) through GuySuCo’s Weekly Production Incentive (WPI) programme.

GuySuCo’s Executive Management congratulates the Management and Workers of Albion/Port Mourant Estate for their outstanding performance and encourages all grinding estates to emulate their success and work towards the Weekly Production Incentive. The Executive Management also implores workers to remain diligent and committed to maintaining this level of productivity.