Sugar: What Does The Future Hold? By BBC - Caribbean February 26, 2007 ........................................................................................................................................ Ever since the European Union announced that it was cutting its import price for sugar by a third, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, have been forced to consider the future of their sugar industry. St. Kitts and Nevis has dropped sugar cane cultivation entirely. In Trinidad and Tobago, harvesting - which is now underway - will be the last time that the government gets directly involved in the industry. Barbados is scaling back its sugar production and looking at specialised markets, while in Jamaica the government is looking for private sector investors for its sugar sector. Meanwhile, in Guyana a third of agricultural output and 20% of GDP still depends on sugar, despite the European Union's announcement to cut back what it pays for the crop. The government there is holding on to the industry that's indelibly linked to the region's history spanning well over three hundred years. EU support The European Union has promised $200 million to Caribbean countries as a cushion in the aftermath of recent price cuts. It has approved the first two sugar projects for Barbados and St. Kitts and Nevis. Barbados is to get about $2.5 million and St. Kitts and Nevis' $3.5 million. Part of the money is to help former sugar workers adjust to the change. It was the Dutch, who, according to the historians, started what has been called the sugar revolution, which gave birth to today's Caribbean society. According to some historical accounts the first commercial production of sugar in the Caribbean started in Barbados in 1637 when a Dutch planter brought the sugar cane plants from Brazil. From its ignominious beginnings and links to the slave trade, sugar has underpinned the economy of the Caribbean. So where are we now? In Jamaica: In 2005 then Prime Minister PJ Patterson announced a major overhaul of that country's sugar sector - including the closure of some sugar factories. His pronouncement was greeted with mixed reactions. Some felt the social fall-out would be catastrophic, others called on the government to get out of sugar completely. However, key private sector interests along with others who supported the Government's plan insisted that the Government should desist from spending more money on the struggling sugar industry. There were even those who argued that the administration should get out of sugar as it was a losing venture. But this claim was rejected by the Government which went all out to emphasize that closing the industry would be devastating, particularly for the thousands of unskilled workers whose families depend on the industry. Privitisation was one of the options was being considered. But nearly two years after Mr. Patterson's announcement, very little has changed. The Government through the Sugar Company of Jamaica still controls five of the seven sugar factories. Allan Rickards, the Chairman of the All Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association says he is not excited by the announcement that bidders for privatisation have been shortlisted. “I’m afraid that underwhelms me,” he said. He maintains that things take much too long to happen within the struggling industry. In Guyana: In Guyana, where the sugar industry accounts for 20 per cent of the total value of the country's economic output - or gross domestic product - the government is holding on to the sector. Today however swingeing price cuts and the loss of its guaranteed access to the lucrative EU markets has left the industry reeling. However while admitting that the price cuts were severe Guyana's Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud told BBC Caribbean report major plans are being pursued not only to keep the industry alive but to ensure that it prospers. However opposition spokesman on agriculture Tony Vieira says the high production costs at some sugar factories around the country, will keep the industry uncompetitive. In St. Kitts and Nevis: St. Kitts and Nevis is the only Caribbean country so far to have dropped out of sugar completely. A government minister told BBC Caribbean that it has an elaborate plan in place to diversify. It has received the first instalment in significant funding from the European Union. However the opposition People's Action Movement, believes that the government has failed to handle the situation properly. “We want to make sure that the money that is being given by the E.U. is being directed to the proper channels,” Lyndsay Grant is the leader of the PAM told the BBC Caribbean. “In my opinion the government was not doing enough and is not doing enough for the sugar workers in this country,” he continued. But the St. Kitts and Nevis Trades and Labour Union said it feels that the government has dealt well with the changes. Trinidad and Tobago: Finally, in Trinidad and Tobago this year is the last that the government is getting directly involved in sugar cane cultivation. Harvesting of this year's crop started just over two weeks ago. 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