By Cedric Johnson, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
IN A bid to curtail the illicit cane fires which are plaguing operations at the Frome Sugar Factory in Westmoreland, a new quota system, aimed at putting a limit on the amount of cane the factory will accept each day, has been established.
The factory's stance, which is primarily aimed at cane farmers and harvesting contractors, comes against the background of unconfirmed reports that the illicit burning of cane is part of a ploy by farmers to force the estate to take their canes ahead of the outlined schedule.
In addition to the new quota system, the estate also announced a change in his payment scheme. Under the new scheme, suppliers (farmers and contractors) will not be receiving their first payment from the factory until four weeks after the cane is supplied.
REAPING PROCESS
"This is a message to those who are illicitly burning the cane and forcing the factory to take it," said Astill Sangster, the chairman of the West End Cane Farmers' Association. "Order is needed in the reaping process."
In explaining the factory's capability, Mr. Sangster said it could only comfortably take 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes of raw material per day. However, he said that because of the illicit burning craze, as much as 11,000 tonnes of canes are being dumped on the factory per day, putting it under serious strain.
In responding to reports that there was now unrest among cane farmers, who reportedly did not get the full payment for their cane, Mr. Sangster said the problem was with a new system which has since been adjusted, bringing things back to normal. After 13 weeks of processing, 38,000 tonnes of sugar is already in the bag. An upbeat Mr. Sangster said, "this is good going, the cane juice quality is excellent and if all goes well for the remainder of the crop, the projected 50,000 plus tones should be exceeded."
