Tenesha Thomas, Gleaner Writer

Dairy farmer Lloyd Bernard of Braes River, St. Elizabeth, milks his cow by hand after his machine was stolen. - File

Eight years after the Jamaica Dairy Farmers' Federation (JDFF) received a loan of $620 million from the Government to construct a dairy processing plant in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, it is yet to be built, and the Agriculture Ministry is again considering another loan proposal to build the same facility.

"There is an approval in principle and from all indications we are going to get the money," Raymond Brooks, chairman of the JDFF told The Sunday Gleaner.

According to him, the dairy federation is seeking $400 million to build the processing plant at the same location as the Century Farm operations in Old Harbour.

While confirming that the proposal was before Government for consideration, Donovan Stanberry, Permanent Secretary in the Agriculture and Lands Ministry cautioned that the proposal was being assessed before it was brought to Cabinet.

"It is a lot of money and the Government has to first satisfy itself that it is feasible," said Mr. Stanberry.

But while the new loan proposal is being considered, Mr. Brooks admitted that the $620 million loan received in 1997, through the Government's CL80 loan programme, to build the processing plant has still not been repaid.

"We have just finished our moratorium and are about to commence paying the loan," he said. "We are trying to negotiate additional funding," added Mr. Brooks.

At the same time, he revealed that an audit of the first loan was now being done. "We want to make sure that everyone knows that the money was spent the way it ought to be spent," he said. "That wasn't asked of me (but) I am doing that as part of my management strategy," the dairy federation official explained.

First loan was insufficient

According to him, the first loan was insufficient to build the facility. "What happened is that we underestimated the amount of money that we needed for the plant, and we had a slight problem with devaluation so we didn't have enough money to build the plant," explained the JDFF chairman.

He explained further that the loan was used to assist several farmers and buy the necessary equipment for use in the new plant. "We have all the equipment we have bought, we just need a building to go into," said Mr. Brooks.

The new dairy processing facility was being built out of a need to eliminate the perennial problem dairy farmers had with spoilage due to the unavailability of adequate marketing opportunities. Some 60,000 litres of milk per day is anticipated by converting liquid milk into powder.

In the meantime, Mr. Brooks said several measures were now being implemented to increase production levels at the Century Farm operations, which is owned by the JDFF.

He disclosed that the federation was in negotiation with the HEART Trust National Training Agency to set up an academy on 300 acres of land that was bought with the loan in Lodge, St. Catherine. He believes such a move would help to upgrade the skills of farmers and increase their overall productivity levels.

In addition, he said students from the HEART Trust's Ebony Park Academy in Clarendon were now being recruited to work in the industry. He said a five-year plan has been submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. "We are hoping to do value-added products such as ice-cream, yoghurt, butter, oil, etc.," said Mr. Brooks.