Sugar culture needs to change - Golding

MONEYMUSK, Clarendon:

PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding says the culture that has driven the sugar industry has to change if the country is to start benefiting from it again.

Speaking on Wednesday during the official opening of the new state-of-the-art distillery on the grounds of the Clarendon Distillers Limited (CDL), Moneymusk, Clarendon, Golding said it was that mindset that resulted in the Government's approach to the divestment of the sugar industry, despite numerous criticisms.

He noted that with that change in culture, the Government was then assured that the sugar industry that was a $20-billion burden to the country, would become a part of the engine that would drive the Jamaican economy.

The CDL plant has been modernised by National Rums of Jamaica Limited (NRJ), under the European Union's Integrated Development Programme for Caribbean Rum Sector grant funding.

The CDL plant and equipment have been upgraded at a cost of US$12.75 million, with the EU granting over 44 per cent of the cost. The rest of the project was financed through shareholders and bank loans.

Evron Brown, managing director of NRJ, said the distillery-modernisation programme had been successful, and the Jamaica rum industry was already beginning to reap benefits from this venture, as the group was seeing a reduction in its production costs and an increase in the number of orders.

That was the second local entity to benefit from the programme; J Wray and Nephew being the first.

- Jermaine Francis