Cane farmers sweating over sugar debt
Published:Thursday | September 27, 2018 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The sugar industry's viability depends on being able to sell the unrefined (brown) sugar it produces on the local market, which is protected by tariffs on imported unrefined sugar and on white sugar destined for the retail market. Refined sugar imported for manufacturing comes in duty free at prices less than half of what unrefined sugar is retailed for.
It is, therefore, easy to figure why the locally produced brown sugar, large portions of it, is sitting unsold in the warehouse. The consequence is that cane farmers like myself and some manufacturers are not receiving payments due for cane and sugar supplied for the trade.
Ministers of agriculture, past and present, have recognised the dilemma farmers face but have so far failed to find a solution. In the meantime, while we cane farmers wait, we find ourselves out of pocket.
The irony of the situation is that while we sweat out the lack of remuneration, the industry maintains an expensive bureaucracy that seemingly is unaffected by this marketing fiasco.
Unless some immediate steps are taken to remedy this situation, the conclusion is obvious.
KEN NEWMAN
Cane Farmer