ROCKED BY a drop in its sales, Newport Fersan Jamaica Limited has made redundant 33 per cent of its staff, effective yesterday.

John Allen, general manager at Newport Fersan, told The Gleaner that six workers of its production department were issued redundancy letters.

"Due to the decrease in sales we have to decommission one of our production lines. Consequently, it has resulted in the laying off of six of our employees," said Allen.

Sales at the island's sole manufacturer of inorganic fertiliser have dramatically dropped since August when the Government announced that it would import the commodity.

The Government-imported fertiliser is being sold for a maximum of $3,500, a huge decrease from about $7,000 that farmers paid for the commodity.

66 per cent decline

During October, sales fell by about 66 per cent at Newport Fersan.

The first shipment of fertiliser being imported by government arrived in the country two Fridays ago. Another 2,000 tonnes of the commodity will be shipped to the island weekly for the next five weeks.

The Government would continue to source cheaper fertilisers, while another shipment of 25,000 tonnes of the farming input have been ordered from Russia.

Allen said, as a result of a decrease in raw material on the world market, its prices, with the exception of one item, have decreased.