Sugar Industry Authority hits back at criticism from Worthy Park Estate

The Sugar Industry Authority is rebuffing criticisms made against it by Worthy Park Estate Limited, which blamed the regulator for the hardship being experienced by players in the industry.

In a statement, Worthy Park argued that over the past two years, the entire industry lost substantial sums due largely to the inefficient and unaccountable bureaucracy established to regulate and manage the sugar industry.

The company further argued that, among other things, the cess imposed by the authority on the sector to fund its operations has been harmful to players, stressing that there has been no adjustment despite a falloff in the industry.

READ: Worthy Park Estate calls for reform of Sugar Industry Authority

To this end, it has called for a dramatic reform or a disbanded of the entity.

However, the authority’s chief executive officer George Callaghan argued that while there are issues affecting the industry, the agency should not be blamed.

Callaghan, in a statement, acknowledged that over the last five years, in response to international and local challenges, sugarcane production has declined by 52 percent.

He indicated that sugar production moved from 134,223 tonnes in 2015 to 59,025 in 2019, while cane production declined from 1,539,992 tonnes to 735,555 tonnes during the period.

But Callaghan argued that the crisis in the sugarcane industry is due to illicit imports of sugar into the island which denies sugar producers their most lucrative market.

Against this background, he says the small scale of the sugar industry in Jamaica ties its sustainability to effective protection from imports of sugar and other sweeteners.

More from Callaghan

“We, therefore, submit that there are two basic expected future outcomes for the Jamaican sugar industry.

The first scenario assumes that government halts the illicit importation of all sugar by recentralising all imports of sugar and artificial sweeteners and supports the commencement of the production of plantation white sugar. These measures would certainly ensure that at least three sugar factories could operate at their installed capacity to supply domestic sugar consumption in full. On this base, cane production could be expanded to produce the estimated 70 million litres of ethanol currently consumed at the current E10 ethanol mandate and supply co-generated electricity to the grid.

If we choose to travel this route, the country could end up with an energy-cane Industry with the predominant revenue stream being ethanol and electricity and not sugar, as currently obtains.

If, however, we take no action along the lines described above, the country’s sugarcane sector will no longer provide the economic and developmental benefits which justifies its continued protection by the state and the massive consumer subsidy it receives each year. In this scenario, it might be prudent for Worthy Park Estate to prepare itself for a ‘Cheap Sugar Policy’ which foresees a complete liberalisation of all sugar imports. This would of course spread the prosperity to each and every Jamaican who buys sugar in our domestic market."

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us @onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.