Upgrading just not on / ANOTHER OPINION
Publication: Daily Nation
Paper Section And Page: 5
Paper Date: Mon, Feb 12, 2001
Category: News
Byline:
THE subject of the establishment of a single sugar factory to replace the present three factories is under attack.
And, perhaps, as I was the former chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC), and being instrumental in the preparation of the feasibility study in the establishment of a single factory, I am in a good position to defend such an undertaking.
It would not only be a monumental waste of taxpayers' money to "upgrade" any or all of the present sugar factories, but it would also be economic stupidity at its worst.
The present three sugar factories are outdated relics of 18th century engineering standards, and any "upgrade" will in no way increase their output.
Basically, the Barbados sugar industry grinds between nine and-a-half and 11 tonnes of cane to produce one tonne of sugar, and upgrading will not reduce this ratio.
However, if a single 21st century-engineered factory were established, the ratio of tonnes cane to tonnes sugar would be reduced to between seven and seven and-a-half tonnes.
As a result, a crop estimated in the past to produce 58 000 tonnes sugar would in reality produce between 80 000 and 82 000 tonnes of sugar, or 22 000 and 24 000 more tonnes than previously.
Or, in dollars and cents, it would earn an additional $23 million to 26 million in foreign exchange, and this increased output would come from the computerisation of the heating process and other technological improvements.
But a new factory would also provide the industry with a chance of establishing a co-generation plant to produce electricity on a year-round basis to be sold at a guaranteed profit to the industry, and in addition the factory's ability to burn certain types of garbage to produce some of its steam requirements would be of immense value to our ongoing garbage problems.
A new single 21st century engineered factory would also permit the industry to take off its cloak of colonialism by bringing it quickly to the realisation that it does not have to rely solely on the export of raw sugar or sugar at its lowest export value, but that other value-added sugars might be produced for export to earn substantially higher prices.
The decision to establish a new single factory might appear costly for Government to underwrite in the short run, but if not acted upon it will mean the death of the entire agriculture industry.