The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) wants the current board of management at the state-owned Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) to be fired and a new team appointed, in light of a dismal sugar crop which produced under 150,000 tonnes of sugar.
Senator Anthony Johnson, the Opposition's spokesman on agriculture charged that there should be no excuse for the dismal performance of the island's sugar factories, which managed to produce only 146,800 tonnes of sugar.
"They should be immediately relieved of duties and a new board appointed with a mandate to properly manage Jamaica's third largest source of foreign earnings," he charged in a press statement.
This has come on the heels of an announcement on Monday that the island produced a disappointing 146,800 tonnes, more than 10,000 tonnes below the revised production forecast of 157,000 tonnes and 30,000 tonnes below the original projection of 177,000 tonnes.
According to Senator Johnson, based on the production figures announced, the country yielded a mere two tonnes of sugar per acre, far below the 3.5 tonnes per acre that was produced in the past.
No reason for less production
"Now that we are using mostly flat lands, with a high percentage of irrigation, there was no reason why we should produce less than four tonnes per acre and therefore easily surpass the 250,000 tonnes per annum," he said.
But Allan Rickards, chairman of the All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association, said the poor performance should not come as a surprise as the signs were already clear that both the original and revised projections could not have been met.
"I am surprised that anybody could be issuing a release to proclaim the fact that we had a production shortfall ... when everybody knew, including the SIA (Sugar Industry Authority), that there was no way that we were going to be producing any such figure," he said. "It is not a surprise and anybody in the industry who is surprised, I have to say they do not know what is going on in the industry," Mr. Rickards added.
Yesterday high level officials in the sugar industry were summoned to an emergency meeting with the Government to discuss the future of the embattled SCJ and the country's sugar industry, which is up for divestment.
