Delroy Chuck
THE SUGAR industry, like so many other areas of Jamaican life, is crumbling. Lack of foresight, planning, leadership, management and resources are responsible for the downward slide everywhere. Unlike the other areas of decline, one wonders whether sugar can ever be revived. So much has been done for the sugar industry, yet it continues to be a burden on the taxpayers and, perennially, in decline. Some simple facts tell the true story of sugar, which industry, sooner or later, will be a part of our history.
In 2001/02, sugar received 90 million euros to modernise the industry, yet production has steadily declined from 2001 - 204,478 tons, 2002 - 174,640, to an estimated 135,000 tons in 2005. How was that money really spent? Virtually all the sugar produced in Jamaica is exported and, still, we can barely satisfy our export quota. At the same time, we import sugar for manufacturing and domestic use, at about half the price it is produced locally. While we produce sugar somewhere around 30 U.S. cents per pound, sugar is sold on the world market at less than 14 U.S. cents per pound and produced in some markets at less than 12 U.S. cents per pound.
Some of the best lands are used for sugar cane cultivation. These lands and others have been used for over 300 years to produce sugar continuously even while the yield gets less. The sugar canes reaped on these fields are less than half-inch in diameter, while in countries such as Brazil and Australia, the canes are in excess of an inch in diameter, which is a major cause of the low yield and uncompetitiveness of the local industry. These lands need to be retired, or rested, at least for a regular rotation with other crops, which is not, at present, a regular feature of the industry. My understanding is that the private farms maintain a high yield by rotating different varieties of sugar cane at each planting.
TRANSITIONAL PROGRAMME
In reality, the sugar industry cannot be abandoned precipitously. We cannot eliminate over 40,000 jobs and threaten the livelihood of another 160,000 dependents overnight. But, there must be a transitional programme, which must include the real likelihood that the sugar industry will be downsized and used only for the rum industry or other value-added products. Let's get real, we will never be able to compete with the sugar plantations in Australia, Latin America or Africa and it's not in our interest to even try. These estates, certainly in Australia and Brazil, are mechanised, huge, self-sufficient and capable of producing in a day what we produce in a year.
CRUNCH TIME
Our sugar industry is in crisis, irredeemable, and it is crunch time. Strong and firm decisions are needed but may never be made by a weak and feckless government. The European Union at present buys sugar at around 28 U.S. cents per pound, to be reduced ultimately to 15 cents, which will spell disaster for everyone. Worthy Park Estates, Peter McConnell informs, at its most efficient, cannot produce sugar at less than 18 U.S. cents per pound, which is at least 12 cents better than the publicly owned factories. To be sure, we could produce the same amount of sugar with less land if the crops were rotated and the fields better utilised. However, it cannot make sense for fields that used to produce 40 tons per acre to produce only 12 tons per acre, and for estates to barely produce 10,000 tons per crop, which was hitherto produced in a week. Surely, it is time for the private estates - Appleton and Worthy Park - to take over the industry, but is the government prepared to yield and make that sound and sensible decision?
Admittedly, some of the lands should be used to produce crops, vegetables and fruits for the domestic and tourism markets. But, it is time we think creatively and outside of the normal paradigm, and ponder how best our sugar lands could be utilised. I visualise large manufacturing plants, service industries, entertainment complexes, luxury hotels to cater to a growing tourism market, and a variety of golf courses for visitors. If Las Vegas in Nevada and Sun City in South Africa can be created from arid and barren lands, why can't we create even better attractions from our sugar plantations that could bring prosperity instead of poverty for our people?
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
