By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE HAMPDEN Cane Farmers Association are threatening to spoil the fortunes of the ruling People's National Party (PNP) in the upcoming Local Government elections, if the government continues to turn a deaf ear to demands for the re-opening of Hampden sugar factory.
George Fray, president of the Hampden Cane Farmers Association (HCFA), is cautioning the Patterson regime that, not only will cane farmers collaborate to ensure that the PNP lose the Parish Council elections scheduled for March, but that it will disrupt activities in the sugar industry, if its demands are not met.
The HCFA is warning that if it does not receive a reply from Prime Minister P.J. Patterson by tomorrow afternoon, it will set in motion plans to disrupt the sugar industry.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Mr. Fray said, "I am a card carrying member of the People's National Party and I ran for the party in the Local Government elections in the 1980s, against the JLP's Patrick Tennyson in the Bunkers Hill division. But, I will not be voting for the PNP in the upcoming Parish Council elections if they don't allow Hampden to re-open."
"We gave them (PNP) a fourth term," noted the HCFA official. He indicated that, if his fellow cultivators have their way, the party will not be reaping the sweets at the polls this year.
"Over three weeks ago, our parent body, the All-Island Cane Farmers Association wrote Prime Minister P.J. Patterson seeking that he gives the go-ahead for us to lease the sugar factory, distillery and estate lands. Similar letters were sent to the Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke and the Sugar Company of Jamaica," Mr. Fray told The Gleaner.
He claimed that up to now, neither of the organisations had received a response from the Prime Minister or any of the governmental authorities. "We are warning them that some serious things might happen if they do not respond."
