There is so much to unpack from today’s back page Nation News article ‘Crop us out!‘.
There was high expectation in the land when an ambitious plan was revealed by Minister Weir in late 2023 that there was an MOU established to transition the ownership of sugar cane industry to the Barbados Sustainable Energy Co-operative.
In the Nation article President of Co-Op Energy in his usual no-nonsense style referred all inquiries about the deal to Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir. In turn Weir punted the matter to prominent government consultant Ambassador Clyde Mascoll who declined to answer questions on the matter. In case you missed the point – Minister Weir – an elected member of government and minister responsible for the deal – deflected questions to consultant Mascoll.
Further in the article Chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Ltd (BSIL), Mark Sealy is reported to be happy with the progress of the 2025 sugar harvest along with other vacuous comments. He was quick to dissociate the BSIL from the ongoing disagreement between Co-Op Energy. What the blogmaster would like to know is what is the BSIL doing about helping to increase the sucrose content of local sugar cane. Is it correct to say it takes over 20 tonnes of sugar cane to produce a tonne of sugar? Back in the day when Barbados was a model sugar cane producer it took less than 10 tonnes to produce 1 tonne.
Obviously the deal between government and Co-Op Energy has tilted south. President of Co-Op Energy has been pellucid on the matter – produce audited financials or no deal. Based on the record of the incumbent and successive governments to produce audited financials of state owned entities, it is not obviously not a strong suit. In fact, if the most important SOE, the rebranded NISS, cannot deliver current financials what do we expect from a mismanaged, corrupt sugar cane industry?
Of concern to the blogmaster is the inability of Barbados to deliver on what is a visionary ideal – using the production of sugar cane to fuel the vision for a sustainable energy plan for Barbados. We continue to fail when it comes to being innovative and creative and seem happy to remain hewers of wood and drawers of water.
Until the obvious gad order is removed by Prime Minister Mottley, the people who the government serves we have to be happy being none the wiser.
Crop us out!
Coop says it’s nothing to do with sugar industry
by CARLOS ATWELL
IT APPEARS the Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society Ltd (CoopEnergy) is washing its hands of the sugar industry.
When asked for an update on the harvest yesterday, president of Coop Energy, Trevor Browne, said nothing had changed and as it stood, Coop Energy had nothing to do with either Portvale factory or the sugar industry.
“We offered to buy the shares in the new companies and that sale has not been completed. So as far as I am concerned, you have to find that out from the past, and who continues to be the current owners, which is the Government. We really don’t have anything to do with what’s going on.
“We offered to buy it and we were in the process of buying it, but it’s not been completed, so what would we have to do with it? You want the minister, you want Weir, that’s the body you want, not me,” he told the MIDWEEK NATION.
When contacted, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir referred queries to senior economic advisor Ambassador Dr Clyde Mascoll, who he said was leading the project. However, Mascoll said he was not answering any questions relating to Coop Energy.
At Portvale yesterday, operations were in full swing as truckloads of canes were being delivered. Signage indicated the plant was under the operation of the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc (BESCO), a subsidiary of Coop Energy.
To further complicate matters, relations between BESCO and its employees are strained as the Sugar Industries Staff Association (SISA) said BESCO was escalating tensions by instructing workers to return revised employment contracts. SISA management said BESCO had not upheld its promise to hold further discussions with the union before finalising any new agreements.
There were also concerns raised about malfunctioning equipment, poor communication from management and uncertainty over the promised 20 per cent ownership stake under the new structure.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Ltd (BSIL), Mark Sealy, said things were looking good for this year’s harvest from their end with no major problems so far.
“At the start, we had a few challenges, but that is usual when it comes to sugar factories. It was the first time that we were looking after the equipment, the trailers and the tipping bins, so one or two of us were a little bit late, but we’re now all going. I have to say that this is one of the better crops for consistently delivering very close to 2 000 tonnes of cane per day,” he said.
Sealy said around 40 000 tonnes of cane had been brought in around 31 delivery days, which included both BSIL and the Agricultural Business Company Ltd (ABC) – the other company under Coop Energy. He added there was still a long way to go before the end but he was optimistic.
“All in all, things have been going well, the truckers have been working well, the equipment’s holding up pretty good, and the factory has been running particularly well. So congratulations to them. Of course, we do not call the end of the crop, but if you estimate there are 100 000 tonnes of cane to be delivered, and you’ve delivered 40 000, then you can expect that we would have quite a bit more time left to go in the crop. But all in all, it’s very, very positive,” he said.
Sealy declined to comment on the ongoing feud between CoopEnergy and Government, but said whatever happened, the sugar industry was too important to be allowed to fail.
“That’s really nothing to do with us. Our job is to grow quality cane that has good sucrose content, good volume and to keep Barbados very well organised, out of bush and green, and that’s what we’re really concentrating on. I would just like to say, though, that I don’t think the sugar cane industry is going to shut down. We’ve been in it for a long time.”
In 2023, Co-op Energy and Government signed a memorandum of understanding whereby the cooperative would take over the industry from the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC) to transform it into a renewable energy operation. BAMC was then divested into BESCO and the ABC under the cooperative.
Since then,both sides have accused each other of not meeting their financial obligations, with Browne saying the plant was still under Government control.
-Source: Nation Newspaper
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