Dionne Rose and John Myers Jr., Staff Reporters
Roger Clarke, Minister of Agriculture and Land, makes his contribution to the 2006/2007 Budget Debate at Gordon House yesterday. In background is Richard Azan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Works. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE ASSETS of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), are to be made available to potential investors on May 16.
Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke, made the announcement yesterday during his contribution to the 2006/07 Budget Debate in the House of Representives.
"The Sugar Company of Jamaica, which influences some 70 per cent of the industry, has to be restructured because its demise would see the death of the industry and the corresponding negative social consequences," he said.
Alan Rickards, chairman of the All-Island Cane Farmers Association, who is to partner with the Aracatu Group from Brazil for the assets of the SCJ, said he would be receiving the bidding documents on May 16.
He told The Gleaner last night that he would be leaving for Brazil to meet with the Aracatou Group on May 20.
The Brazilian company is one of several entities that have expressed interest in acquiring the assets of the cash-strapped SCJ. There have been expressions of interest from companies in India and Canada.
The preparation of the bidding documents has been a source of contention for Mr. Rickards, who had expressed concern about the long waiting period in obtaining the documents. He complained that this was frustrating potential investors.
"It is like taking 18 months to have a baby," he said last night, following Mr. Clarke's presentation in Parliament.
DISPLACED FARMERS
In the meantime, some 10,000 banana farmers and port workers who have been displaced since Hurricane Ivan in 2004 are to benefit from a $700 million Rural Diversification Programme, which will be implemented by the Government to address their needs.
According to Mr. Clarke, the project, which is being supported by the European Union, will be implemented over the next seven years and should begin in the last quarter of this year with the allocation of an initial $1 million..
Implementation will take place in the traditional banana-producing areas of St. Andrew, Portland, St.Thomas, St. Mary, Clarendon and St. James.
