Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

SOME SUGAR workers are clamouring for Government to lease them a portion of the sugar lands it will retain as part of the deal with Brazilian outfit Infinity Bio-Energy.

Government will be divesting the five sugar factories owned by the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) and up to 100 acres of land immediately surrounding the factories to Infinity by September 30. More land is to be leased to the company as part of the deal, though it is still not clear how much.

"Wi a cut the cane dem, so wi know how to care it," Bernard Lewis, cane cutter at the St Thomas Sugar Company, tells The Sunday Gleaner. He reasons that this would give displaced workers an opportunity to benefit from sugar-cane production as the crop could be sold to Infinity.

covered in grass

According to the workers, several productive lands have been going to waste because they are not being properly cared for. Many parcels, they say, are covered in grass and weeds, stifling the growth of the sweetener. The management of these lands by absentee proprietors or "people who do not have the expertise to manage cane lands", is another factor working against efficiency, workers believe.

"Wi could a take it (the unused land) and even put orange and plum and ackee and dem kind a fruit tree pon it. 'Cause you have black soil pon top you know, but the marl right under the black soil, so you put all cane and you not getting more than one, 'cause dem soil deh bun dung," Lewis reasons.

Minister of Agriculture Dr Christopher Tufton says the leasing of land to sugar workers is among the matters Newco, the company managing the transfer of assets to Infinity Bio-Energy, is addressing

"We are looking at all options to accommodate farmers who are likely to be displaced from the new company, including providing lands that will be available, so that they can engage in farming," Tufton advises The Sunday Gleaner.

"So, as part of the transformation process, we definitely will be providing lands for some farmers," he states.