The incident occurred off Spanish Town Road in west Kingston. A woman passing the premises heard her cries.

Residents of Denham Town and surrounding communities are describing as a major miracle the revelation that an abandoned two-year-old child survived for four days without food and water.

Medical authorities say it is not unusual for an abandoned child to survive for this period, but the residents are not convinced and they believe the child was under the special protection of a divine force.

The residents also believe that the circumstances under which the child was found were also part of a miracle.

"A God saved her," one resident declared when The Gleaner visited the community last week Monday.

"Me hear crying like a baby. Three times me hear, 'Mommy, Mommy, Mommy', and me go home and tell me husband and him seh a duppy," the woman, who gave her name only as Stephanie, told The Gleaner.

Her husband returned to the scene with her and they heard one cry of 'Mommy' from inside the abandoned premises, but he was not convinced that it was not an evil sprit trying to lure them into the building.

"Me tell her say a duppy and she alone not to go in there, but she insist and she go tell a DC (district constable) who live nearby," Stephanie's husband said.

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Sugar deal off?

A cloud of uncertainty is hovering over the Government's efforts to privatise the Sugar Company of Jamaica with reports surfacing that the deal, which should have been completed on Wednesday, has either been delayed or scrapped.

Telephone calls to Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton went unanswered, but Gleaner sources said they were unable to verify speculation that the deal had been scrapped.

One industry player told The Gleaner that the sale agreement should now be completed by the end of January, a month after Tuesday's expiration of a 90-day extension for sale.

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Tuesday that negotiations between the Govern-ment and Brazilian firm Infinity -Energy would continue. The ministry, however, did not explain why the deal had been postponed again or until when.

In its statement, the ministry also noted that transitional arrangements were being put in place for the commencement of the 2008-09 sugar crop.