THE Sugar Industry Authority (SIA) is seeking buyers for core sampler units at four non-operational sugar estates, in what appears to be a further step toward clearing legacy assets linked to Jamaica’s once-dominant sugar sector.

Offers are being invited for the purchase of the non-functioning equipment located at Bernard Lodge in St Catherine, Golden Grove in St Thomas, Long Pond in Trelawny, and Appleton Estate in St Elizabeth. Interested parties have until June 20 to indicate their interest by email, after which they will be invited to inspect the units on site.

SIA says additional details and application forms will be shared with those who have assessed the equipment, starting June 30.

“SIA now invites interested companies/persons to submit offers for the purchase of these units,” it said in a notice published recently.

The machines were previously used to determine the quality of cane delivered to mills using the core sampling method, which involves extracting and analysing a portion of cane from truckloads before they are processed.

SIA, which is an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and also a regulator for the industry, has not made public any minimum offer or reserve price.

The disposal of the machines comes at a time when sugar operations in Jamaica continues to dwindle. Only a handful of private estates remain in operation, and the Government has moved away from direct involvement in sugar production. Many of the estates which were once thriving sugar operations have since been repurposed for the housing market.

The Bernard Lodge estate, in particular, has been earmarked for major transformation.According to a 2022 statement by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, land sales in the Greater Bernard Lodge development had already generated nearly $4 billion for the Government, reflecting the pivot toward more economically viable uses of former sugar lands.

It’s unclear what level of interest the offer will attract.

— Karena Bennett