Government’s Neglect Costing Cane Farmers Over J$4m

There is a J$4.1 million cost which the cane farmers are begging the Jamaican government to help them offset, as they cannot afford it. But the government is saying, no way, Jose!

The Government of Jamaica has insisted that they cannot subsidize transportation costs for sugar this year.

The Jamaica Gleaner reports

“The Government of Jamaica does not have the resources to help with the transportation of sugar cane. We just can’t afford it. We did it last year but we don’t have the resources to do so again,” Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke told Wednesday Business.

Since the start of the crop season in December 2012, sugar cane farmers in Westmoreland have been complaining about an additional fee of J$246 per tonne, called a hoist bypass fee, that they are required to pay contractors to haul cane to Frome.

This adds to the J$1,221.72 per tonne that is being charged to transport the cane from the farm to the hoist, according to the All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association (AIJCFA).

Somebody somewhere forgot to consider this part of the process, and now the poor farmers are left with the issue of transporting their cane directly to the factory, instead of the central spots they’re used to, before the companies were divested.