SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — The sugar crop is in full swing in northern St Elizabeth.

Cane farmers are pushing to reap their crop before the start of the traditional rainy season in April/May and heavily laden trucks hauling freshly cut cane to the Appleton sugar factory, are everywhere.

Crucially, hundreds of sugar workers have gainful employment.

That’s a very different story from last year. Back then the 2015/2016 sugar crop in St Elizabeth became a non-starter triggering massive roadblock demonstrations in sugar growing areas of northern St Elizabeth.

The crop was called off after the alleged seepage of effluent into the Black River triggered a court injunction filed by fish operators Algix against J Wray & Nephew, which operates the Appleton factory.

The matter is still before the courts, but an understanding among all parties and satisfaction from environmental watchdog National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) that Appleton is abiding by regulations has led to a resumption of sugar production.

Last week, a pleased president of the North St Elizabeth Cane Farmers Association, Hubert Baker, said the current sugar crop is “going well” despite the likelihood of reduced sugar quality caused by the massive amount of “standover” cane from last year.

Baker said that at the start of the crop in January, projections were that 17-20 thousand tonnes of sugar would be produced from cane grown by private farmers as well as the Appleton Estate.

A concern has been the setting of “illicit” cane fires by unscrupulous individuals in the Barton Isle area especially, said Baker.

He is urging people to stop the “destructive” practice, which leads to severe loss of sugar quality if the burnt cane can’t be reaped immediately.

— Garfield Myers