Difficulties threat the success ot the harvest at the "Guiteras Colossus."

Continuing to implement alternatives that contribute to improving staff service, fundamentally concerning food in the mill's dining room and cafeterias, and strengthening control to increase the use of agricultural and industrial machinery are priorities in this almost final stretch of the current sugar harvest at the Antonio Guiteras sugar mill.

Puerto Padre, Las Tunas.- Almost 50 days after the start of the harvest, only 3,954 tons of sugar had been produced, at a rate of 84 per day, insufficient to recover the existing delay and complete a plan that exceeds 39,000 tons.

Juan Carlos Molina Diéguez, director of the sugar mill, reported in detail the fundamental problems facing the industry, mainly with leaks in the pipes, and some operational problems associated with the lack of experience of the workforce in key positions.

Molina Diéguez highlighted the effort they make to correct them, and the measures they have been adopting in favor of the labor group, such as the daily sale of agricultural products.

For his part, Rafael Pantaleón Quevedo, director of the Antonio Guiteras agro-industrial sugar company, described other obstacles that slow down performance and affect industrial efficiency because they alter the continuous flow of raw material, which "is arriving from the fields with higher quality these days but not in the necessary quantities,” he acknowledged.

Pantaleón Quevedo also argued on the slowness in dealing with accidents on the railways, the reduced number of trucks - only 40 percent of what was planned - and line cars that transfer raw materials, and the non-compliance with travel sequences. “A matter requiring permanent attention and equipping these media with the global positioning system (GPS) as a preventive measure against labor indiscipline,” he emphasized.

The manager confirmed that the blackouts interrupt the processes in the reception and cleaning centers, every day, for between four and five hours. For this reason, essentially, the lost time is around 75 percent and around 48 percent of the potential capacity is being ground.

He listed these difficulties as the most significant threats to the productive process in decisive days to get as close as possible to the amount of sugar committed to the country.