Association hoping to clear roadblock to Trelawny bamboo project

Directors of the Hampden Community Development Committee (HCDC) in Trelawny say its bamboo project is being stifled by the inability to lease land from the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ).

"We have gotten The Bamboo Industrial Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) and Digicel Foundation to partner with us on this project. HCDC is frustrated by the roadblock faced in getting SCJ to lease land to us," Kay Farquarson told The Gleaner on behalf of HCDC.

SCJ manages over 3,600 acres of Government land in Trelawny.

Queried on the matter, Vincent Blair, the SCJ representative in Trelawny, told The Gleaner, "I am not sure of the details surrounding their application for land lease. I will speak with Mrs Farquarson and see where we go from there.”

Farquarson said the project will provide employment for former employees of Hampden Estates. The bamboo project also aims to produce charcoal and biomass.

In 2019, former minister of Agriculture Audley Shaw noted that bamboo could become a multimillion dollar industry.

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