WESTERN BUREAU — Chief executive officer at the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), Derrick Heaven, said the managerial team at the Long Pond/Vale Royal estate will come under the microscope as his organisation moves to make the business viable.

“I am going to be doing my first assessment at Long Pond in the next few week with the persons who are in charge,” Heaven told members of the Cane Farmers’ Association at the estate’s recent annual general meeting.

Chairman of the Long Pond/Vale Royal Cane Farmers’ Association, Delroy Anderson, had long argued that poor management of the estate’s affairs was the main contributing factor affecting the viability of the estate.

But in making the announcement at the AGM, Heaven did not elaborate on the extent of the assessment, but warned that it cannot be business as usual at the estate. According to him, those who are put in charge will be made accountable. In addition, he warned that “years of service” would not be a guarantee for future employment.

Heaven’s SCJ took control of the operations at Long Pond last year after the estate was faced with financial constraints and heavy losses.

In fact, over the past few years, Long Pond has lost millions of dollars from its operations. During the 2000 crop, for instance, the company registered a loss of $40 million. And while the extent of the losses incurred during last year’s crop could not be confirmed, Observer sources said the estate lost in excess of $70 million.

In recent years, there has also been a marked decline in the amount of sugar produced at Long Pond. For example, last crop the factory produced 8,697 tonnes of the commodity in what industry officials said was the lowest volume produced there in recent times. The amount of sugar manufactured represented an almost 50 per cent decline over the previous crop. “Last crop was a disaster and the current crop promises to be no better,” Heaven told the meeting.

But in the face of the declining output, Heaven remained optimistic, expressing the view that the estate can become viable.

He said the SCJ would be implementing “certain” practices that will boost the production of sugar at the estate.

He went on to challenge the farmers to supply good quality canes to the factory which, he said, would have to increase its level of production to at least 20,000 tonnes of sugar per crop in order to start making a profit.