Fires hit sugar cane harvest

The sugar crop was delayed by three weeks due to unusually heavy rainfall which caused record floods throughout the sugar belt, including Couva, Barrackpore and parts of Rio Claro and Mayaro.

Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers Association (TICFA) public relations officer, Lallan Rajaram, said unplanned fires occurred at Williamsville, Malgratoute Road Princes Town and several areas of Barrackpore.

"I have been in the industry for more than 30 years and this is the worst amount of malicious fires that I have ever seen. We gone from having too much water to endless fire.

"Wherever you turn is smoke," he said, adding that the burnt cane would remain unharvested due to the present shortage of cane-cutters.

"We are having a serious problem with getting cutters to work because every body either involved in CEPEP or in construction. Just imagine, some farmers are saying that when they could get six cutters last year, this year is only one cutter," he said.

He said the importation of labour from sister Caricom islands was an option that had to be explored to ensure the industry’s future.

"We have long sent proposals upon proposals to the Agriculture Minister (Jarette Narine) to bring in labourers from Guyana and other countries but so far, no response," he said.

Rajaram also predicted that unless Government immediately pumped financial assistance to improve the agricultural sector, the nation’s food import bill would top the $3 billion mark by next year.

Rajaram also noted that breakdowns at the Usine Ste Madeleine factory were also proving to be a major hindrance, saying that the mill had broken down on three occasions since the crop started last week.