MONTEGO BAY, St James – Sugar expert Karl James is to meet with local industry players this week in an effort to devise strategies aimed at stamping out the illicit burning of cane.

“I am going to consult with them. because if we don’t stop the madness, at this rate we are going to destroy the crop before we get a chance to reap it,” said James, general manager of Jamaica Cane Product Sales, the company that markets sugar produced locally.

He told the Observer that since the start of the 2006/2007 sugar crop last month, at least 17,000 tonnes of cane have been ravaged by illicit fires.

The latest fire occurred on Friday in the Caymanas area of St Catherine, where more than 1,000 tonnes of cane were reportedly burnt.

Earlier last week, a similar amount was affected by illicit fires in the Monymusk area of Clarendon.

James said that at this week’s meeting, he would be pushing for a system whereby persons who are guilty of the illicit burning of cane will be nabbed. He did not elaborate.

The island’s sugar sector – particularly the Frome Division of the state-run Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) – has long been affected by the illicit burning of cane.

In an effort to contain the increase in the number of fires that have persistently plagued the Frome estate, the SCJ two years ago offered a reward of $225,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for the illegal burning of cane. The Observer was unable to ascertain if anyone was held under that initiative.

Additionally, an education programme aimed at sensitising residents of areas in which sugar cane is grown about the negative effect illicit cane fires is having on the industry was also implemented.

But these initiatives, stakeholders have argued, have not borne fruit.

Last month, Aston Smith, the vice-president of operations at the SCJ, said that over the past two years there have been 1,500 illicit cane fires in Westmoreland, resulting in the loss of just over 400,000 tonnes of cane.

Last crop, he added, illicit cane fires in the area resulted in an estimated loss of $350 million.

On Saturday, chairman of the All Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association (AIJCFA) Allan Rickards described the illicit burning of cane as “worrying”.

“The fires are worrying. We don’t want to lose any cane as we try to march to producing 200,000 tonnes of sugar and be able to take up all of our quotas,” Rickards told the Observer.

According to James, the country is expected to earn US$90 million from the export of 140,000 tonnes of sugar during this season.

Last year, the country earned almost US$88 million from the export of 135,000 tonnes of the product.

The 2006/2007 sugar season began at the Frome Division of the SCJ on December 7. Since that time, Appleton in St Elizabeth and Worthy Park in St Catherine have commenced production. The island’s other four factories – Long Pond in Trelawny, Bernard Lodge in St Catherine, Duckenfield in St Thomas and Monymusk in Clarendon are expected to start manufacturing within another week.

This crop, the sugar industry is projecting an output of 160,000 tonnes of the sweetener from the milling of 1.9 million tonnes of cane.

Last year, the island produced 146,000 tonnes of sugar.