Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has extended a public, unprecedented challenge to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to take over management of one of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO)’s remaining operational sugar estates, as the government continues grappling with plummeting production in the country’s iconic but struggling sugar sector. The proposal was delivered Tuesday during a wreath-laying ceremony marking Enmore Martyr’s Day, a key event in Guyana’s labor history.
Addressing attendees including GAWU President Seepaul Narine, who also serves as a member of parliament for the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP), Ali extended an open invitation for the union to step into operations. “We also invited the union if you would like to take up the mantle of management and to take one of the estates and make it a model. We give you that challenge openly to take one of the estates and to manage it,” Ali stated, urging the union not to step back from the opportunity. The president framed the proposal as a test of alternative management models for the ailing industry, adding that the administration stands ready to collaborate with GAWU if it accepts the offer.
Ali also defended the government’s decision to inject billions of dollars in public funding into the wholly state-owned GUYSUCO, arguing that without this financial support, the entire sugar industry would have collapsed entirely. The president reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to backing the sugar sector, even as the administration explores new strategies to secure the industry’s long-term viability in the face of persistent financial losses and mounting debt.
To address one of the sector’s most pressing challenges – a severe nationwide labor shortage – Ali pointed to the ongoing shift toward mechanized cane harvesting as a core solution. He confirmed that mechanization has already been rolled out across 44 percent of GUYSUCO’s cane lands, and the industry is adopting other modern technological upgrades too: traditional vehicle-based field inspections and fertilizer application are being replaced by drone systems, which cut both operational costs and completion times.
“Modernisation of the sugar industry is necessary for its survival, resilience and sustainability,” Ali emphasized.
The announcement also comes amid a previously reported pattern: while Ali has repeatedly threatened to dismiss senior officials at loss-making GUYSUCO over its poor performance, no executive removals have been carried out to date.