Sugar quota will be met

ALTHOUGH THERE have been problems with the start of this year’s sugar crop harvest, Agriculture Minister Jarette Narine is confident that the Usine Ste Madeleine factory will achieve its daily production quota of 6,000 tonnes of cane. Narine said the factory will increase operations to accommodate any excess canes delivered by farmers.

The Minister was speaking with reporters following a tour of career training booths for former daily-paid workers of defunct Caroni (1975) Ltd at Ste Madeleine Staff Club yesterday. In response to questions about the validity of farmers’ contracts, Narine reiterated that the Sugar Manufacturing Company Ltd (SMCL) will continue to honour all contracts issued by the defunct sugar company.

Narine, who spoke to several former workers during the tour, said the first stage of land distribution will begin soon, despite problems which delayed the distribution, including difficulty in locating land-surveyors and verifying the number of persons applying for lands. “The number of persons who applied for lands was in excess of the number of workers and this situation has to be verified before any lands could be given out,” he said.

“Another problem was that some lands had already become occupied by former workers and this was also a situation needing to be addressed.” He reiterated the Estate Management Development Company (EMDC)  was moving “expeditiously” to address the many concerns of former workers. Companies represented at the exposition included the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC), Cipriani Labour College, UWI’s School of Continuing Studies and the Ministries of Labour, Agriculture and Community Development.