Sucre Ethique - Trinidad & Tobago : Cane farmers sour after protest

Trinidad & Tobago International News - samedi 28 mai 2011

SCORES of sugarcane farmers yesterday left Port of Spain disappointed after Government failed to give them assurances of compensation.

The farmers, who protested in front the Red House for more than five hours, braving sun and rain, were calling on Government to "deal with the issues affecting" them.

Members of Parliament who refused to meet with the farmers on their way into the Red House were heckled, but the member for Naparima, Social Development Minister Nizam Baksh, was the only minister booed as he, according to the farmers, "promised to have this issue of compensation rectified when he campaigned" but has done nothing.

Speaking to members of the media about Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar driving past the farmers without acknowledging their presence, general secretary of the Sugar Cane Producers Association Seukaran Tambie said he felt as if the Government had no intention of fixing the injustice that was done to them.

Tambie is arguing they are entitled to a proper compensation package out of the euro 77.144 million grant that was issued by the European Union (EU) to this country for the diversification away from the sugar industry.

Tambie explained there is a difference between sugar workers and cane farmers. He said some 9,000 former sugar workers of Caroni were compensated with VSEP (voluntary separation employment programme) under the People’s National Movement (PNM) administration with pension and other incentives. However, he said 6,000 cane farmers and 3,000 cane cutters were left in the cold.

"We came all the way from South ; I don’t want to make any conclusions at this time... I am still looking forward to the Prime Minister to address the farmers, but I feel disappointed," he said.

The farmers were, however, fortunate to meet several ministers who were willing to lend them an ear, including Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, who promised to continue the dialogue in an attempt to find a solution.

However, during the Parliament sitting, Dookeran said the cane farmers "cannot expect us to take these problems that were created in the past and solve them today, but we are willing to work out how best they can be dealt with".

For the past couple of years, Government, including the PNM administration, have said cane farmers are not entitled to cash benefits from the European Union (EU) grants.

Last week, Charge d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union in Trinidad and Tobago Stelios Christopolous confirmed sugarcane farmers were supposed to be beneficiaries of the grant but added it was up to the Government to decide how best it should be used.