A section of the Frome Sugar Factory, located at Frome, Westmoreland. The factory, which is managed by the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), is considered to be the largest in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean. - Contributed THE SUGAR Company of Jamaica (SCJ) has embarked on a five-year development plan at the Frome Sugar Estate, Westmoreland, aimed at increasing efficiency and production levels.
Aston Smith, vice-president of Finance at SCJ Holdings, told JIS News that the initiative involved renovating the factory and upgradings the fields.
He noted that already, a new boiler, acquired at a cost of US$1.8 million, has been installed at the factory. "This boiler, at full capacity, is expected to effect savings of more than $30 million each year," Mr. Smith observed.
David Ramcharan, production manager at Frome, said that the newly-installed boiler has already impacted positively on production.
"This new boiler has greatly enhanced the overall production of sugar. It has enabled the factory, at its peak, to process more than 5,000 tonnes of cane per day while, at the same time, lowering production costs," Mr. Ramcharan noted.
He says the boiler has also helped to cut down on pollution from the factory.
"This piece of equipment is very useful and indeed versatile, as dirty canes are burnt to cut down on washing. This is one of the factory's long-term objectives of minimising pollution of the environment, as when dirty canes are washed, the water pollutes rivers and other water sources," Mr. Ramcharan explains.
The new boiler, which is fully automated, has also increased efficiency at the plant, in that it has reduced the number of workers needed in that area of production from 12 to three men, and increased the processing of sugarcane.
Explaining that it has also reduced the amount of oil used for cane production, Mr. Ramcharan says that up to the middle of December last year, the factory was using approximately four litres of Bunker C oil per tonne of sugarcane and that has now decreased to 2.5 litres.
"And, what is even more interesting, is that when this boiler is in full operation, the volume of Bunker C oil will be further decreased to a significant level," Mr. Ramcharan said.
Mr. Smith says that part of the development initiative, includes the renovation of the canteens and social areas.
"The morale of workers is of integral importance to the management of SCJ. To that extent, the Board has instructed management to carry out whatever improvements are necessary in the physical and social conditions of workers," the vice-president of finance says.
Located at Georges Plain near Savanna-la-mar in Westmoreland, Frome is considered to be the largest sugar factory in the English-speaking Caribbean, with the capacity to produce up to 80,000 tonnes of sugar annually, and directly and indirectly influencing the lives of some 60,000 people from across the parishes of Hanover and Westmoreland.
The estate has a gross area of 5,700 hectares under its control, of which 95 per cent, or 5,404 hectares, are in sugarcane, distributed across five farms located at Shrewsbury, Blue Castle, Frome, Belle Isle and Albany.
Victor Drum, Cane Farmers' Manager at Frome, says that the estate serves a number of stakeholders and interest groups across Hanover and Westmoreland.
He says that there are some 1,500 person directly employed to the estate, 2,700 farmers who supply cane and about 120 contractors who are directly or indirectly employed to the company.
"With such a wide range of stakeholders connected to Frome, we have come to recognise the need to ensure that the SCJ continues on a path of sustainable viability," Mr. Drum says.
He said that over the period, the SCJ has committed itself to the total efficiency of the estate, evident in millions of dollars being spent each year to guarantee needed services.
"One main service provided so far, is the provision of two harvesters that are making tremendous breakthrough in the reaping of canes especially those of small farmers mainly in Hanover," he notes.
Mr. Drum explains that the culture was for these farmers to resort to reaping by manual means and using mules to take the canes to access roads. This method, he points out, was "extremely" expensive, costing well in excess of what farmers received for the product.
"With such a tedious process, many farmers were unable to reap their canes. The success story is that farmers, especially from difficult areas such as Rock Spring, Jerusalem Mountain and Belle Isle Mountain, who were on the verge of giving up sugarcane cultivation, are now expanding their production," Mr. Drum points out.
The manager says that small farmers from these areas were able to take out all their canes at "drastically reduced prices" resulting morale being built up and faith restored in the sugar industry.
He noted that the sugar quality has greatly improved over last year, and that the tangible increase will be evident in the final payment to be issued to farmers this year.
Other services provided and financed by the SCJ for farmers at Frome include, an efficiently run Cane Farmers' Loan Programme, an education service programme in conjunction with the Sugar Industry Research Institute (SIRJ).
There is also a maturity-testing programme in which a reaping regime is established to ensure that matured canes are reaped at the right time.
Mr. Drum also mentioned that SCJ has introduced a "cane-ripening programme, which is a chemical process that increased that accumulation of sugar in cane, particularly during the rainy period.
"This process allows for the conserving on the amount of sucrose in the cane and by extension, giving an average of some 12 per cent above the normal quality," he states.
In addition to these improvements, the factory has been benefiting from initiatives funded by SCJ, and spearheaded by certain departments at Frome.
He informs that over $2 million worth of repairs have been carried out on old discarded cane carts and heavy-duty equipment and machinery, and rechanneled into production.
"We have been doing all these and more because we recognise the critical role the company has played, and because of this commitment, we have invested heavily in providing the necessary services for the optimum performance of Frome Company," he pointed out.
He says the estate was satisfied with the services and assistance it has been able to provide to thousands of people of the many communities across the two parishes.
