$42M payout to cane farmers

CANE farmers started receiving final payments for the 2003 sugar harvest at section offices of the now defunct Caroni (1975) Limited yesterday. According to a senior official at the defunct company, payments amounting to some $42 million were processed without any problems. The official predicted that all farmers would be in receipt of their cheques by next Monday.

He said that farmers had been advised to visit the Company’s section office within their district to collect the final payments. Some 7,000 farmers are expected to benefit from the payout and, according to Trinidad Islandwide Cane-farmers Association (TICFA) public relations officer, Lallan Rajaram, the monies would “go a long way” to facilitate preparations for next year’s crop. He said this included field preparation and the purchasing of chemicals and insecticides. However, Rajaram pointed out that TICFA had secured a meeting yesterday with Agriculture Minister John Rahael to discuss matters relating to next year’s harvest.