Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Indar Weir, look on as workers cut the ribbon on one of the mobile units handed over yesterday. (See Page 2 for handover of Mobile Unit.)
Sugar factory to produce energy
The island’s sole sugar factory could very soon be churning out much more than ‘Barbadian gold’. This came from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley as she revealed that plans are afoot to see the factory at Portvale diversifying its portfolio to include energy.
Speaking during her address yesterday for the handover of mobile lunchrooms to the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Ltd., she explained that government was in deep conversations with the private sector to see the factory used to generate renewable energy. Noting that the future of the industry that has characterised modern Barbados was not a viable one unless a different approach was taken. The Prime Minister said that the restructuring was aimed at making it a declining burden on the public purse as the current model was not sustainable as the selling price for the commodity was lower than the cost of production.
Stating that government not only has the power to tax and spend, but also to facilitate and empower, she said that they were not going to throw sugar to the wind but needed to find a way to ensure that it remained as profitable as possible.
“We have said as a government that once we get the right public-private mix, we are prepared to ensure that the one sugar factory is capable of operating as a renewable energy factory, thereby earning revenue not just three months a year, but earning revenue for 12 months when the year comes. Those discussions are deep and going on now and I anticipate that we have to reach some kind of conclusion before the end of the fiscal year, which is the end of March. Government is not walking away, but government is not prepared to continue to operate in the sugar sector as it has in the past.” (MP)