President eyes greater sugar production at Skeldon Estate as more lands to be used

President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Saturday announced that another 5,000 hectares of land will be used for sugar production at the Skeldon Estate in Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne).

Dr. Ali, while addressing the commissioning ceremony of Republic Bank’s new Williamsburg branch, said that production at these lands will be mechanised and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has already sourced new varieties of sugarcane to be planted there.

Altogether, he believes this will allow GuySuCo to meet its 2024 production target at the estate this year and “achieve higher levels of production” next year.

The former APNU+AFC government closed estates at Skeldon and Rose Hall in Berbice, Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara and Wales on the West Bank of Demerara shortly after it was elected to office in 2015.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government said it would be pursuing a phased reopening of the Skeldon Sugar Estate as part of a wider plan to revitalise the sugar industry.

The Rose Hall Estate, which is also in Berbice, was reopened last October.

Meanwhile, President Ali, earlier this year, announced that the Enmore Estate is being converted into a sugar refinery by a private investor.

Outside of these developments, the Head of State reminded those gathered for the commissioning ceremony that the government also intends to train and retool sugar workers so that they can remain gainfully employed in the modernising sugar sector.

He also said sizable investments are being made in the rice industry. Sugar and rice are two of Guyana’s main agricultural crops.