The 2025 sugar harvest ended on June 4, and the authorities have not provided any public information on the performance of the industry. A published article on June 7th reported that the Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir said it was too early for him to comment (on the 2025 crop season).
Given the numerous challenges facing the sugar industry, it is opportune for the Mottley administration to provide answers to the following questions for the benefit of the public. The questions relate to production, technical, marketing, financial, and worker welfare issues.
The totality of responses to the various questions will give industry stakeholders and the wider public a clear understanding of the state of the sugar industry and its likely future.
- What is the quantity of canes harvested during the 2025 crop season? What are the comparative figures for the previous three years?
- What is the quantity of sugar and molasses produced during the 2025 crop season? What are the comparative figures for the previous three years?
- Has Portvale factory been subjected to the minimum international benchmark assessment for the operation of manufacturing plants during the last three years, for example, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and/or any other relevant International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assessment?
- Are problems being experienced in marketing and selling sugar in export markets? If the answer is yes, outline the nature of the problems.
- Is there sugar unsold from the 2024 crop? If the answer is yes, what is the quantity and its value?
- Is there sugar unsold from the 2025 crop? If the answer is yes, what is the quantity and its value?
- Where are the storage facilities for the sugar?
- What is the value of Government’s subsidization of the sugar industry in 2024 and 2025, and the expected level in 2026?
- Has the impasse between the Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society Limited (CoopEnergy) and the Government been resolved?
- Is the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Limited (BAMC) still operational despite its announced closure on December 31, 2023?
- Is the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc. (BESCO), the CoopEnergy-owned company, in charge of the operation at Portvale factory or BAMC?
- Have the publicly voiced concerns (related to deteriorating factory equipment, unresolved labour disputes, and lack of clarity regarding ownership shares) of the workers been dealt with to the satisfaction of the workers and their representatives?
- What is the status of the pension fund for the former workers of BAMC?
- Is there a realistic future for the sugar industry? If the answer is yes, indicate the anticipated size, source(s) of funding, and management arrangement.
Written by Anthony P. Wood, Economist, and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in a previous Barbados Labour Party Administration
