By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE BAKERS' Association of Jamaica (BAJ) is optimistic that the shortage of bread and baked products that has plagued some sections of the island since Hurricane Ivan will be alleviated by next week.
St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Clarendon and rural St. James are areas hardest hit by the bread
shortage.
"We have been having some shortages of bread and baked products in some parts of the island, especially in the rural areas, but things are improving and should get better by next week," said Clarence Chin, BAJ president.
'RATIONING' OF SUPPLIES
He said a major reason for the shortage is that many bakeries are having problems accessing the required quantities of baking flour due to the 'rationing' of supplies of baking flour by the Flour Mills (JFM) since Hurricane Ivan. According to Mr. Chin, the JFM has given "the assurance that within a week supplies will get back to normal".
When contacted for comment, James Gill, JFM's managing director, explained that "production was stopped for three days as a precautionary measure in the face of the hurricane... So, our production levels went down." He, however, insists that bakeries should have no problems accessing supplies because the company is "back up to normal production levels".
Another hurdle that has hit the baking sector and stimulated the shortage of products is the disruption in electricity supplies since Hurricane Ivan hit the country on September 10.
"We did a survey of bakeries on Friday and found out that 18 per cent of them were not baking because they had no electricity supply, and some did not have standby generators," the BAJ president informed The Gleaner.
