APNU closed estates, now pretends to care – Mustapha rejects Norton’s ‘shameless attempt to rewrite history’

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, has rejected recent statements by Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton about the future of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) under a possible APNU-led administration, calling them “disingenuous” and a “shameless attempt to rewrite history.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Mustapha reminded the public that it was the APNU — which Norton now leads — that shut down the Rose Hall, Skeldon, Wales, and Enmore sugar estates between 2015 and 2020, putting more than 7,500 sugar workers out of jobs and plunging entire communities into economic and social crisis.

“These reckless decisions were made despite a report from the Commission of Inquiry into GUYSUCO, commissioned by the APNU/AFC themselves, which warned of the devastating long-term impacts of closures,” Mustapha said. “They ignored it, and thousands of families paid the price.”

He accused the previous government of not only shuttering estates but also refusing to pay sugar workers their full severance, forcing them to fight lengthy court battles for what was rightfully theirs. According to Mustapha, it was only after the return of the PPP/C to government that the outstanding severance was finally paid.

He noted that the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) later found that the closures led to rising suicide rates, crime, and alcohol abuse, exposing the deep social scars left behind.

Mustapha criticised Norton for now promising to “transform” GUYSUCO and claiming there will be no estate closures under a future APNU government. “These are hollow promises built on the ruins APNU themselves created,” Mustapha declared. “They cynically called it ‘right-sizing’ then — now they pretend to care.”

He contrasted this with the PPP/C’s record since returning to office, highlighting the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate, re-employment of workers, and new investments in mechanisation, diversification, and recapitalisation.

“The sugar industry does not need empty rhetoric. It needs leadership — and that leadership is already in place under President Dr. Irfaan Ali,” Mustapha said.

He reminded Guyanese, especially sugar workers, that they know who “stood with them and who abandoned them.”