Caroni lands earmarked for housing, small business

IN THE restructuring of Caroni (1975) Limited, 25,000 acres of the company’s lands will be leased for sugar manufacturing to meet the requirements of its down-sized operations, according to Uthara Rao, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the newly established Estate Management and Business Development Company Limited.

Rao was one of the speakers at a Breakfast Business Seminar oraganised by the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce at Cara Suites and Conference Centre, Claxton Bay, on Tuesday morning. He said the land, along with canes to be supplied by farmers, will help the company achieve total sugar production of around 75,000 tonnes. This is based on projections in the restructuring programme announced by Agriculture Minister John Rahael earlier this year. The Estate Management Company was incorporated on August 8, 2002, “to manage the lands of Caroni and to stimulate and facilitate new business activity in light manufacturing, agricultural estates, residential development and commercial complex”. After allocating 25,000 acres for  sugar plantation, the remaining 52,000 acres of land will be used for various developmental projects and 11,000 acres for small business. The company is developing alliances with Plipdeco and TIDCO to fast track the initiatives on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.

Rao said small business activity would concentrate not only on the Couva and Point Lisas areas, but the country as a whole. In the first phase of development, some 175 acres is earmarked for commercial development, 250 acres for industrial and light manufacturing, 400 acres for residential estates and 600 acres for agricultural estates in South and Central Trinidad, he said. Rao explained that the Estate Management  Company would undertake the necessary infrastructural development and would meet all the environmental and Town and Country Planning requirements for such projects. He said, “The developed lots would then be made available to the investing public by creating investment opportunities made known in advance to all potential investors.” Rao said a US firm, Moore Ammonia, has shown “deep interest in establishing a company in Trinidad and Tobago and in this regard they were seeking to acquire lands to start construction to streamline production by the end of 2004.”