The Jamaica government says it will provide a further J$70 million to assist farmers in the parish of Trelawny with the transportation of sugar cane to the Appleton Estate and Worthy Park factories this year.
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Karl Samuda, said the government is cognizant of the challenges being faced by farmers since the shutdown of sugar production at the Clarks Town-based Long Pond Factory in the parish a few years ago.
“I have been able to support you, so far, and I could never turn my back at this stage when things are so difficult. And, that is why I said to the permanent secretary, only two days ago, that we cannot leave the farmers of Trelawny to suffer the consequences of not having the resources to transport the cane.
“And so, we decided that we are going to provide the same amount that we provided last year, which was J$70 million. I had said J$50 million, but I told him, add J$20 million to it, so that we can be assured that all the farmers’ cane will be transported to the factory,” Samuda said at the opening of the 63rd Hague Agricultural and Industrial Show in Trelawny.
He recalled the efforts of the government to keep the Long Pond Sugar Factory open during its first year in office, noting that he had indicated, at the time, that this could not be continued, as the “cost of keeping it open was too great for the Government to underwrite”.
He said as a consequence the ministry had moved to provide money to assist small farmers in particular, to transport the sugar cane from Long Pond to Appleton Estate in St Elizabeth and Worthy Park in St Catherine.
