SCJ carving up Plantain Gardens for investors
Published:Wednesday | February 3, 2021 | 12:24 AM
Seeking investors to develop land at Plantain Garden River in eastern St Thomas, SCJ Holdings Limited has invited proposals in the form of business plans for medium to large-scale agro-processing ventures.
The property has been divided into four land lots, which SCJ plans to allot to four separate applicants, its procurement advisory indicates. Bids are due at the end of March.
SCJ Holdings, a state-owned company that holds lands that were utilised for the farming of sugar cane – a portfolio spanning around 200,000 acres of former sugar lands – is seeking investors to develop facilities at Plantain Gardens for the processing of raw materials and intermediate products derived from the agricultural sector. Proposals were also invited for packaging or other systems of preparing goods for storage, transport, logistics, sale, and end use.
Farmers have been informally occupying the SCJ lands in the Plantain Garden River area of the parish for several years. The request for investment proposal follows a move to offer over 1,000 acres to small farmers in the area who have been working small plots of land left idle with the demise of the sugar industry in that part of Jamaica.
Head of SCJ Holdings Joseph Shoucair did not respond to multiple messages for comment, making it unclear as to whether there is a comprehensive programme at play.