HGP Nightly News – In a high-stakes parliamentary defense, the government has placed an enormous bet on the future of Guyana’s iconic sugar industry, vowing to transform its perennial losses into profitability within a decisive six-year window.
Facing fierce opposition calls to slash funding for what critics label a bottomless financial pit, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha stood before the National Assembly with a dramatic pledge: to make the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) profitable by 2030. The cornerstone of this audacious turnaround? A staggering $13.4 billion allocation in the 2026 national budget.
“The revival is not a hope; it is a plan,” the Minister declared, brandishing a new five-year strategic document described as the industry’s roadmap to salvation. This massive financial injection is framed not as another subsidy, but as the essential capital to fuel a radical operational overhaul already showing tantalizing green shoots.
Minister Mustapha pointed to what he called “undeniable momentum”: a startling 26% surge in production in 2024, followed by output climbing to over 59,000 tonnes in 2025. He directly linked this rebound to a sweeping management and operational shake-up, signaling a decisive break from the past.
The heart of the strategy is a relentless drive toward mechanization, with officials claiming over 41% of fields are now harvested by machine. Simultaneously, thousands of hectares of abandoned land, like the vast Skeldon estate, are being aggressively replanted, a move touted as reversing “years of agricultural failure.”
Yet the plan lands in a storm of controversy. Opposition members have brandished figures showing catastrophic losses on every pound of sugar sold, branding the new allocation a reckless reward for failure. The government’s counter-argument is one of profound long-term commitment, positioning the spending as a vital lifeline for rural Guyana and a strategic investment in national food security.
All eyes are now on the clock. With the 2030 deadline now a matter of public record, the government has tied its credibility, and billions in public funds, to a make-or-break mission to rescue an industry that once defined the nation’s economy.
The coming years will determine whether this bold gamble saves a cornerstone of Guyanese heritage or becomes the country’s most expensive agricultural experiment.
