Tufton

Jamaica should know by year end whether the Government has been successful in divesting its sugar burden.

"Based on the discussions with the entities we are talking to, we expect to have feedback, one way or the other, positive or negative, by the end of the year," Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told Parliament on Tuesday.

He was responding to questions posed by Roger Clarke, opposition spokesman on agriculture.

Tufton refused to set a deadline for the divestment of the sugar estates and factories, noting that he had done so before, only for it not to materialise.

"The timeline cannot be specific because it is a negotiation and I don't want to run the risk of giving an exact date as we did last time, and when we did not meet that (deadline) it was perceived as a failed process," Tufton said.

June 2008 deadline

The Government had set June 2008 as the deadline for divesting the sugar estates. However, the state missed that deadline. It later divested the St Thomas Sugar Estate and factory, and Long Pond and Hampden estates and factories in June this year.

The country is currently in talks with Eridania, a Swiss company, for the divestment of Frome, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge. Tufton said that a team from Eridania, which was in the island, has returned home and disclosed that he expects a response from them soon.

Should Government fail to divest the sugar factories this year, Tufton said the backup plan will be to have the state operate the sugar factories for another year.

Major restructuring

"One of the least-discussed issues around the divestment of the sugar estates has been the extent to which the government-owned entities have undergone major restructuring over the past year. The truth is that we have not only divested two entities but we have also rationalised and restructured the existing entities that we are operating," Tufton said.

The agriculture minister listed the closing of the Bernard Lodge factory, the right-sizing of organisations and the effecting of repairs of the two existing factories - Frome and Monymusk - as reasons not to panic if the divestment does not happen this year.

"We will see, this year, government intervention in terms of subsidies be either non-existent or, at worse case, very limited," Tufton said.

'An achievement'

He added: "It would be an achievement in itself, whether or not we are able to divest the remaining three within this year."

The Government has said it cannot continue to shoulder the debt of the Sugar Company of Jamaica, which exceeds $16 billion, growing by approximately $2 billion per annum.

Former banker Aubyn Hill has been contracted to provide consulting service for the divestment of the Government's interest in the sugar estates and factories. He is being paid $1.9 million monthly, an arrangement which Tufton says will be reviewed by year end.

Earnings from Jamaica's cane-based sugar industry have declined.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com