WESTMORELAND:
THE WEST End Cane Farmers' Association has called on the Government to restructure the beleagured sugar industry, starting with a review of the structure of the board and management with the aim of cutting costs and increasing efficiency.
The call was made following the recent closure of the Hampden Sugar Factory in Trelawny.
"Government must act now to give a clear indication as to where the industry is heading," Astill Sangster, chairman of the Association told The Gleaner recently. "We want to ensure that what happened at Hampden will not suddenly overtake the whole industry," he said.
The executive of the West End management committee, having held an emergency meeting to look at the Hampden situation and the overall state of the industry, said it viewed the closure as a serious blow to the future of the sugar industry. They also said it was a reflection of the poor management and general inefficiency of the factory.
"Because of this sad state of affairs, hundreds of cane farmers and sugar workers have now been left out in the cold," said Mr. Sangster, who also painted a gloomy picture of the Frome operation.
"We produced up to 111,000 tonnes of sugar at Frome in the mid 1960s, but last crop we sunk to an all time low of 54,000 tonnes," he said. "This year, with the weather and the situation at the factory, we might barely get to the 50,000 tonne mark. It's quite a dismal picture," he said.
Enumerating some of the difficulties with which cane farmers have had to contend in recent years, Mr. Sangster pointed to their failure to secure replanting loans, the unavailability of fertiliser after the closure of crop, and inability of the factory to guarantee maximum returns from the canes supplied.
He said if farmers were required to reap their canes in December when the juice content was poorest, just to provide Christmas work for labour and to satisfy the trade with sugar, they ought to be compensated for the financial loss they suffered as a result. "Farmers must understand that they should reap their canes between mid-January and the end of April when the juice is sweetest and the returns are likely to be higher," he said.
Mr. Sangster has also called on the Government, whom he said owns 75 per cent of the industry, to act now if there was going to be any hope of saving it and ensuring the livelihood of those who survive through sugar.
