WESTERN BUREAU — Four hundred workers will lose their jobs at the end of this month when the Hart Group of Companies wind up operations at one of its two garment factories in the Montego Bay Free Zone.

The factory, Sportswear Producers Number One, is a cut, make and trim operation that makes female underwear for the US firm, Sara Lee.

Mark Hart, CEO of the Hart Group, said the planned closure of the factory is the result of falling sales. “There is a slow-down in sales and we are not as competitive,” Hart told the Observer.

He added that the company has also been faced with security concerns and high labour costs.

About two years ago the Hart Group closed Sportswear Producers Number Two, one of three it operated at the time. Falling sales were also blamed for that closure, which put 440 people out of work.

As of the end of this month, the Group which ventured in the garment manufacturing sector in 1986, will have one remaining garment factory in operation- Sportswear Producers Number Three, which presently employs 600 workers.

Sportswear Number Three, Hart said, is very productive and is one of the largest factories in the group.

Yesterday Hart said his group would be looking toward the IT sector, as the garment industry is not poised for any significant growth.

“We have been talking to some companies in the IT sector and I am confident that by next year we will be able to start business in that area,” he told the Observer.

Meanwhile, Hart said that the company will have to absorb a multi-million dollar bill for redundancy payment to the 400 workers who will lose their jobs.

“We are calculating the payments and it will be a very significant amount,” Hart said.

He said that with the expected growth in the tourist industry he is confident that most of the workers would gain employment in the sector.

According to him, his company has over the years placed great emphasis on the training and development of its workers.

“Throughout their employment we have conducted workshops and seminars so they are prepared to work at other places,” Hart stressed.

The closure of the Montego Bay factory will add to a list of other Montego Bay Free Zone companies which have ceased operations in recent years. These include two Oneita factories that had left more than 1,500 workers jobless. The Akom garment factory, which was one of the free zone’s oldest operations, was also closed a few years ago.