Once a significant sugar producer, Jamaica will have to import sugar again after the 2004-05 cane harvest turned out to be its worst since World War Two, a sugar industry official said on Wednesday.
Karl James, general manager of Jamaica Cane Products Sales, the marketing arm of the industry, said Jamaica produced 125,400 tonnes of sugar and was just able to meet its export quota of 125,000 tonnes to the European Union. The island nation will have to import sugar from Caribbean neighbours Belize and Guyana to satisfy local demand, he said.
"We have hit rock bottom," James said. "We will definitely have to import sugar."
Jamaica has been forced to import sugar for local needs for the last seven years as the industry, which still employs around 40,000 people, became progressively smaller.
The 125,400 tonnes of sugar produced in 2004-05 marked the lowest production level since 1944-45, when the country produced 120,000 tonnes. The harvest, which ended last weekend, was dogged by strikes. Officials said malfunctioning machinery, immature plants due to last September's pounding by Hurricane Ivan, and illicit burning of cane fields also contributed to the low production. Workers blamed mismanagement of plantations and crushing mills and the powerful Cane Farmers Association said it would pursue legal action against managers.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told his parliamentary colleagues in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that a firm decision on the future of the sugar industry would be made by October of this year.
From July 2006, the Jamaican sugar industry will face further hardship after the European Commission decided to slash the price the EU pays for sugar from countries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific group by 39 percent. That decision must still be approved by EU agriculture ministers.