Crop low

Barbados’ plummeting sugar production appears set for what could be a most embarrassing performance next year.

Sources in the industry told the DAILY NATION yesterday that as a result of a series of coinciding factors, Barbados, originally projecting an upswing, would now be lucky to produce 12 000 tonnes of raw sugar.

And the projection comes just days after news surfaced that the public arm of the local industry, Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC), had been preparing to temporarily close operations at the lone Portvale Sugar Factory and a number of the sugar estates it operates, all the result of a severe shortage of funds.

Sources explained that the situation had reached the point where the BAMC, already troubled by the challenge of not being able to pay suppliers, had been looking at the probability it would not have been able to pay staff, but got a reprieve when it was able to sell a consignment of sugar.