Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE ISLAND'S cane farmers and government are still at loggerheads over the closure of the Hampden Sugar Factory in Trelawny, and attempts by the All Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association (AIJCFA) to get approval to lease the complex.
Declaring that it is "angry" about the reply from the Sugar Company of Jamaica to the Association's letters requesting the lease arrangement, the AIJCFA said that it viewed the response of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) as a "stalling" tactic.
"We are very, very upset and very, very angry about this response because we feel that it is not intended to entertain any serious discussion on the matter," said Allan Rickards, Corporate Consultant to the AIJCFA. He warned that, the Hampden farmers would take whatever action they see fit, "and I can assure you they are not going to take it lightly."
Mr. Rickards said that the association felt that the response was contrary to prevailing trends on lease or divestment arrangements in the sugar and financial industries.
"One of the stipulations they (SCJ) made is that the proposal must include a method of addressing the $1.6 billion debt that they say has been accumulated. As you know, one does not lease an entity with the accumulated debt. It has never been done," lamented Mr. Rickards.
"When other sugar factories were divested that was never done. When Tropicana was divested that was never done. For them to refer to the accumulated debt of the past, as being an essential ingredient in the proposal to be presented, merely indicates that they have no intention of seriously considering the request for lease."
"The farmers get the feeling that they are being treated with contempt," he added. He also pointed out that while the SCJ and the Minister of Agriculture were promoting the 5,000 tonnes of sugar capacity at Hampden as the reason for the closure, the fact was that the majority of the juice produced there went into making rum.
The AIJCFA says that their lawyer will be writing the SCJ again restating its desire to lease the factory, distillery and lands owned by Hampden Estates.
The farmers say they are also dissatisfied with the nature of statements issued by Prime Minister P. J. Patterson on the matter last Thursday. At that time, the statement from Mr. Patterson noted that "no letter has ever been addressed to me by the cane farmers and therefore no reply can be expected from me."
Prime Minister Patterson also contended that both the Sugar Company of Jamaica, to whom the letter was addressed, and the Minister of Agriculture, to whom the letter was copied, have been awaiting a proper business proposal outlining details of the lease plan from the cane farmers,
Mr. Rickards said, "When the Prime Minister says he was not written to, it is factual, but is slightly disingenuous, since he had before him the correspondence; since the buck stops with him."
Roderick Gordon, the attorney acting on behalf of the AIJCFA, said that the Prime Minister was sent a copy of the letter addressed to Derrick Latibeaudiere, Chairman of the SCJ, outlining the request made by the AIJCFA to lease the factory, distillery and lands.
Mr. Gordon said he had subsequently sent two additional letters to SCJ, re-stating the request and asking for the matter to be addressed urgently.
