40 graduate from GUYSUCO Training Centre
Guyana Chronicle
July 16, 2004
FORTY apprentices of the GUYSUCO Training Centre at Port Mourant received certificates and prizes at the institution's 43rd Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday.
The Ceremony, whose theme was "With Skill and Confidence" witnessed another 100 per cent pass rate with a record number of students (80 per cent) gaining distinctions.
Twenty per cent of the graduands gained credits in the fields of fitting and machining, auto electricity, agriculture mechanics, electricity, and instrument mechanics.
Six sugar boilers were among the batch of successful apprentices and they were drawn from GUYSUCO estates at East Berbice, Blairmont, and Uitvlugt (West Coast Demerara).
A feature introduced at this year's Graduation Ceremony was the Exhibition and Souvenir Booth that was erected on the lawns of the hostel. On display at this stall were T-shirts and cups with the logo of the Training Centre as well as items made by the apprentices during their tenure at the institution. Demonstrations of students' dexterity and skills were enacted upon visitors' requests.
In his remarks at the Graduation Ceremony, Mr Michael Boast, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, urged the young people to practise "good safety habits" and to remain dedicated to their jobs.
"Safety is your responsibility," Mr Boast admonished the apprentices.
Mr Satyadeow Sawh, Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, who is also performing the duties of Minister of Agriculture, delivered the feature address. Sawh told the gathering that the exercise is an important one in the overall plans and development goals of the sugar industry.
These plans, he said, are targeted at the improvement of production and productivity.
"To achieve this it means that the training of human resources in the required skills of production, business and marketing, are crucial. To this end, the apprenticeship programme has contributed significantly from its inception in 1957, training in excess of 2,000 persons," said the Minister.
He noted also, that apprentices are graduating at a crucial time for sugar industry.
"I say crucial because you may have heard recently of the proposed sugar price change by the European Union to reduce the price paid to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) producers by 20 per cent by 2005 and 33 per cent by 2007," Sawh said.
The Minister told the gathering that if this proposal goes ahead, Guyana stands to lose US$35M annually from the sale of sugar.
He reminded them of the importance of the sugar industry to the local economy.
Sawh noted that sugar accounts for 17 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 20 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings.
"It creates direct employment for some 18,000 people and indirectly another 10,000 - 15,000. The proposed price cuts can then have serious implications for the industry, and by extension, our economy," he said.
The Minister remarked also on the progress of the industry over the years adding that sugar production increased 154 per cent between 1990 and 2002.
According to the Minister, Guyana has been ranked among the top ACP suppliers of sugar due to the improvements in sugar quality.
And, in an effort to continue this trend of improvement, a vital component of the strategic plan of the industry is the proposal for the construction of a state-of-the-art factory, along with a refinery and facility for the co-generation of electricity at Skeldon.
The contract for the construction was recently signed between GUYSUCO and the Chinese company CNTIC for US$110M.
Skeldon will become the largest of the eight factories producing 10 per cent of the targeted annual production of 500,000 metric tones of sugar. Achieving these targets will result in Skeldon's production cost being US$237 per tonne (US10.8 cents per pound) and the overall industry production cost being reduced from US18 cents per pound at present to US12 cents per pound.