Sugar company wants its US$1m
Everglades seeks to settle demand through mediation
EFFORTS ARE now under way to settle a dispute over a reported debt of just over US$1 million which the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) Holdings is seeking to collect from the owners of Everglades Farms Limited.
The Sunday Gleaner has confirmed that SCJ Holdings has written Everglades, the owners of the Long Pond and Hampden sugar estates in Trelawny, demanding US$1.045 million, which it says is owed for lands leased under the divestment deal with the Government in 2009.
But CEO of Everglades Andrew Hussey has expressed confidence that the issue can be resolved through mediation.
“Each party has items in dispute and both parties have agreed to mediation to resolve these items,” Hussey told
The Sunday Gleaner.
“We are confident that these matters will be resolved once mediation is concluded,” added Hussey.
A government source had reported that a demand letter was served on the company at the instruction of the board of SCJ Holdings, and if Everglades fails to comply a notice to leave the lands could follow.
“The amount owing to SCJ, I can safely say, is over US$1 million, but The Evergaldes-controlled Long Pond Sugar Factory. there is a dispute over charges for the Outram Hussey for an environmental use of their facility and equipment at study. Long Pond, last year (and) that has The Hussey family acquired Long become a vexed issue between both Pond in a package that included parties,” said the source. Hampden Estates, which is also located
In a letter addressed to the in Trelawny, for $135.5 million company, chief financial officer in 2009. of SCJ Holdings SherryAnn Under the deal, the new Johnson-Hylton acknowledged owners were required to owing a balance of just maintain 60 per cent of the over $4 million to Everglades leased lands for sugar-cane pertaining to “the Long Pond production or related products Project”. for 15 years.
The document revealed that The deal covered the two Government paid $4 million factories and 40 hectares of to lease the facility, while a fee land they are surrounded by, was also charged for the use of factory plus an additional 7,100 hectares, equipment. leased for US$40 per hectare per
It also outlined items of contention to annum for the first 10 years of the be dealt with, which includes, among agreement. other things, security costs post-October The business plan also looked beyond 2012, housing costs post-February sugar production, with tourism a key 2014, modification of grease trap and part of its focus. This included a rum technical consultancy conducted by museum for Hampden, a sugar cane museum for Clark’s Town, and tours of the great houses and sugar cane mills. The plan also had scope for the breeding of horses on the properties.
However, Everglades was faced with numerous challenges in the period immediately following the acquisition and the operators opted to sit out the 2010-2011 crop year.
MOST IMPROVED
A reported $2-billion refurbishing exercise followed, and by 2012-2013, Long Pond was voted the most improved factory by the Jamaica Association of Sugar Technologists.
Long Pond’s production subsequently peaked at 11,103 tonnes of sugar from 132,981 tonnes of cane in 2014-2015, but followed up with a dismal 3,027 tonnes of the sweetener from 66,421 tonnes the following year.
This led to the decision to shutter operations for the 2016-2017 crop, which Everglades blamed mainly on falling yields from growers and a substantial reduction in world sugar prices.
The Government subsequently stepped in at Long Pond, spending just over $174 million to repair and reopen the facility to harvest some 95,000 tonnes of cane.
Since then, Everglades has announced an agreement with the US firm Arrakis-Everglades Power Limited (AEP) to build a 14.20 mw biomass-toenergy cogeneration plant to produce electric power and steam energy at the site of the sugar factory.
In a media release, AEP said the deal had the potential to employ more than 900 workers and would see the transformation of the facility from one that strictly processes sugar cane to producing electric power and steam generation.