Jamaica sugar estate divestment plans still continue

Dr. Tufton explained that the discussions, which began on April 22nd, are partially completed, with the divestment of the St Thomas Estate and factory to Fred M. Jones/Seprod, and the estates, factory and distillery at Long Pond and Hampden, to Everglades

KINGSTON, Jamaica, December 3, 2009 – Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Christopher Tufton, is assuring that negotiations are proceeding for the divestment of the country's sugar estates and assets.

He said there has been a constant flow of discussion and information gathering and experts are developing a model to determine the feasibility of the project.

“It's a work in progress," he told Parliament this week.

He was responding to questions from Member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland and Opposition Spokesman on agriculture, Roger Clarke, regarding the current talks between the Government and the four shortlisted parties - Energen Development Limited; Fred Jones and Company/Seprod Limited; Everglades Farms Limited; and Italian firm Eridania Suisse.

Dr. Tufton explained that the discussions, which began on April 22nd, are partially completed, with the divestment of the St Thomas Estate and factory to Fred M. Jones/Seprod, and the estates, factory and distillery at Long Pond and Hampden, to Everglades Farms Limited in July.

"Eridania has indicated that they will go to their board for a decision to invest (or not) and once that decision is made, they will let us know," the Minister said. He noted that while no deadline has been agreed, it is expected that the Government will have a response by the end of this year.

In May, the Government secured an agreement with Eridania to provide a US$15 million partial, pre-shipment facility to fund the 2009/2010 sugar cane crop. This is in exchange for a Government of Jamaica (GoJ) guarantee to supply a minimum of 79,000 tonnes of sugar.

The government had initially set a June 2008 deadline for divestment but Dr Tufton has declined to set a deadline this time around.

"The timeline cannot be specific because it is a negotiation and I don't want to run the risk of giving an exact date as we did last time, and when we did not meet that (deadline) it was perceived as a failed process,” he said.

The Agriculture Minister said that based on the discussions with the entities the government is talking to, the administration expects to have feedback, “one way or the other, positive or negative”, by the yearend.