‘Rebuilding sugar industry is a massive undertaking’ – President Ali says he hails GAWU’s contributions 

President Irfaan Ali once again emphasised his government’s commitment to rebuilding the sugar industry, positing that gains have been made over the past few years.

The President spoke at an event organised at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, on Thursday to commemorate the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union’s (GAWU) 50 years of recognition in the sugar industry.

GAWU has long championed workers’ rights in Guyana. Workers in the sugar sector, in particular, have benefited significantly from the representation provided by GAWU.

Like many local and regional stakeholders, the President emphasised that GAWU’s development is inextricably linked to Guyana’s development. He also reminded the gathering that his party, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), has had close ties with GAWU for years.

However, the President acknowledged that the union has faced challenges. He lamented the years of “struggles” both the workers and the union had to endure due to mismanagement and economic difficulties in the country. Those struggles, he said, were evident from 2015 to 2020 when the APNU+AFC administration was in office, and thousands of workers were sent home as some estates closed.

Now, President Ali said, the government continues to support the union, its workers, and the revitalisation of the sugar industry.

“The reality is that rebuilding an industry so extensively dismantled is a massive undertaking,” the President emphasised.

He added, “I extend an open and sincere invitation to GAWU and all sugar workers to combine efforts to restore the sugar industry to a state of viability. The sugar industry remains too essential to the rural economy to be allowed to collapse.”

Over the last several years, since President Ali took office in 2020, the government reopened the Rose Hall Estate and upgraded field and factory infrastructure at Albion, Blairmont, Rose Hall, and Uitvlugt—moves which officials said helped re-energise rural communities that had been severely impacted by the industry’s decline. The government has allocated $13.4 billion for the sugar industry in 2026, with a major push towards mechanisation, factory upgrades, and expanded value-added production. Allocations for the sugar sector form part of the $113.2 million agriculture sector budget.

For President Ali, these investments are necessary as the sugar industry supports thousands of workers and their families, and remains a key pillar of Guyana’s agricultural sector. As such, he lambasted those who are critical of the government’s investments in the sugar sector.

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