There is no clear vision being articulated by Govern-ment at this point as to what role ethanol production would play in the new sugar-cane industry.

Ethanol was being sold as the new direction of the industry during the Government's courtship of Brazil's Infinity Bio-Energy.

It even threw in the prized Petrojam Ethanol Limited (PEL) as a sweetener to woo the Brazilian outfit when it appeared to be backing out of the deal last year.

But after months of delay, the deal to divest the State's sugar assets to the company fell apart after Infinity was unable to come up with the capital to seal the deal.

lack of clarity

In announcing the sale of the St Thomas and Trelawny sugar companies in Parliament on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton made little mention of whether Petrojam Ethanol remained a part of the sugar assets being sold, and whether ethanol production would play a vital role in the industry going forward.

The lack of clarity on the issue caused players in the sector to raise questions about the industry's future.

"We hear that ethanol is a big thing and the divestment must go in the direction of the ethanol industry. Infinity failed and we came out of ethanol, and we are now back to sugar," said president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, Lambert Brown.

"I ask the question, do we know where we are going?" Brown raised the issue at the opening of the Regional Sugar Meeting, organised by the International Union of Food.

A senior ministry official has since told The Gleaner that the way forward was undecided as there was little interest by the companies now involved in divestment talks in ethanol production.

moving away from ethanol

Tufton hinted that ethanol production was no longer being pushed by the Government. He said only one shortlisted company, with which it is now in discussions, had shown interest in focusing on ethanol production. The company is New York Stock Exchange-listed energy producers Energen.

"Once we complete the discussions, we will be sure whether or not it's going to be there or not," Tufton said.

"If Energen were to fall out based on the negotiations, then PEL will be left out of the package and it means that we would have to look back at that facility, and the driver of that would have to be the Ministry of Energy," he said.