Tendering process for the sale of the island's state-owned sugar factories on track

The tendering process for the sale of the island's state-owned sugar factories is on track, according to Minister of Agriculture Dr Christopher Tufton.

"There have been several expressions of interest, and beyond Friday, we will report back to the Cabinet and then back to the country, including our major stakeholders, the European Union as to where we are," the minister said Wednesday at an EU grant-signing ceremony in Montego Bay, St James.

"I don't want to give too much details, but suffice to say there have been additional expressions of interest and we are committed to ensuring that that process goes through in the interest of, not just an agreement that we have as it relates to Europe, but more importantly, a commitment to the sugar cane industry and to the Jamaicans who depend on that industry to survive," added Tufton.

The government issued an invitation for new bids for the divestment of its sugar factories earlier this year, after negotiations with Brazilian company Infinity Bio-Energy collapsed, due in part, according to Tufton, to the global financial meltdown.

"The truth is that, over the last year, no one could have predicted that the world would have experienced the type of economic tsunami, as it is being described by many, as we have experienced; a world that has lost half its income within the space of eight months and has seen banks going into bankruptcy," noted the minister. "The sugar-divestment exercise, for example, is a casualty of that environment and we certainly intend to bring it to a conclusion."

source: Jamaica Gleaner