Tufton defends payments to Hill

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, is maintaining his defence of the government\'s multi-million dollar contract to Aubyn Hill\'s consultancy firm to guide the Sugar Divestment process.



Dr Tufton called a press conference today to explain what some have described as the huge sums being paid out to Corporate Strategies Limited, at a time when the government says it will have to cut back on spending.



The agriculture minister was adamant that the money paid to Mr Hill, over a 15-month period, is reasonable compared with similar contracts for other divestment exercises.



Dr Tufton has sought to assure that the returns to the country will be greater than the amount of money being paid to Hill.



He added that the two estates, which have already been divested, are engaged in cane expansion and will be more efficient and likely to engage more workers.



Dr Tufton also declared that if the Government had not taken that route it would either mean an increase of the burden on taxpayers, or the closure of the industry.