Dear Editor,
Kiskadee Watch did a fantastic job at bringing this important news on the financial and operational performance of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) for the year 2025 in its edition of October 25, 2026. Why this article is totally credible is that it was audited by Parmesar & Co. and the Office of the Auditor General of Guyana. The figures presented are, to put it mildly, astonishing. A loss of $16.9 billion in 2025 under Mr. Paul Cheong is enough money to build 1,924 new homes for the poor people in rural Guyana. Cash all lost and a fair chunk of this loss was sent to the UK, the USA and the Caribbean, as I will show below. But I think the full loss is $23 billion as that is the loss before taxes because the $16.9 billion is a figure that incorporates the $5.9 billion in wages subsidies from the Government of Guyana.
It is with deep concern that I note the Board of Directors, led by Mr. Jairam Petam, and the CEO, Mr. Paul Cheong, have presided over such a severe deterioration of the Company’s financial position in just one year. The reported loss before taxes of $23 billion is unprecedented in GuySuCo’s history. The auditors have clearly stated that the core operational performance is unsustainable. The net loss widened by nearly 50% compared to 2024, alongside a gross loss that has expanded significantly. This indicates a fundamental disconnect between pricing and production costs.
A particularly troubling indicator is the relationship between production and revenue. While GuySuCo’s production increased by 26.5% (from 47,108 MT to 59,600 MT), revenue decreased by 1.4% to $9.2 billion. This discrepancy suggests a critical failure in marketing and sales. Are we giving away the sugar now?
I respectfully challenge Mr. Paul Cheong, who has overseen marketing since 2019 at GuySuCo as the Director in charge of the Marketing sub-committee of the Board, to address these concerns directly. Reports from factory workers at Rose Hall Estate indicate that sugar is being stored on the ground in conditions that are less than ideal.
Belize our only competitor in CARICOM has forward sold all of its sugar for 2025 and Guyana is unable to sell almost 12,000 MT of sugar produced last year by the end of the year. This clearly establishes that something is very wrong in the Marketing Department at LBI, when the company desperately needs cash.
Beyond the revenue, there is a major problem in the cost of production, which surged by 22.8% (over $5.1 billion) to $27.7 billion. This confirms the Company is selling its products at prices significantly below the cost of production. The current situation reveals a troubling dynamic where local prices to the Guyanese people are higher than the price we sell sugar to the Caribbean, USA and the UK. Sales to the UK are effectively subsidized by the Guyanese at a rate of $180 per pound of sugar sold. This represents a transfer of approximately $4.8 billion in free cash from Guyana to the UK in 2025 alone.
Furthermore, at the end of 2025, GuySuCo owed Guyanese contractors—who transport cane from the fields and workers to the factories—a staggering $6.2 billion. Despite this, the Company found $4.8 billion to send to London as free cash. This level of misconceived fiscal prioritization demands scrutiny from the National Parliament. What on earth is Mr. Vishnu Panday doing as a Member of Parliament?
The operational failures extend to the molasses by-product. Income from molasses decreased from $8.4 billion to $6.5 billion. Despite DDL being ready and willing to take up to 60,000 MT of molasses from GuySuCo , the company only sold DDL 34,000 MT in 2025. This is reportedly due to a contractor refusing to move the product from the estates to DDL because he is owed over $280 million. Consequently, molasses is being stored on every estate in “old punts,” which are sometimes patched with mud and tape. This is not a viable solution; it is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Leaking molasses poses a severe risk of oxygen depletion in surrounding water bodies and massive contamination of groundwater used by residents.
In the final analysis, the Company is effectively relying on external bailouts from the Government to survive. More concerning are reports that the Company has utilized $6.3 billion intended for NIS payments, workers’ union dues, and pension scheme contributions to buy fuel and yet it owes the oil company over $1.8 billion. This is a grave matter that requires immediate explanation. It is disheartening that GAWU remains silent on these issues. The workers deserve better representation that will advocate for their interests, as the current union leadership in GAWU appears ineffective in protecting their rights and dues.
Yours faithfully,
Lancelot Hyman
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