Under the arrangement, COMPLANT will acquire three factories at Bernard Lodge, St. Catherine; Frome, Westmoreland; Monymusk, Clarendon and associated lands for US$9 million.
The Chinese company will also lease some 18,000 hectares of cane lands for US$35 per hectare, per annum for a period of 49 years.
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Robert Montague, said the signing “underpins the long and fruitful relationship between Jamaica and China and we are strengthening that relationship as we go forward."
He added, “We know that this relationship will be long and fruitful. We not only expect COMPLANT's investment in sugar and in the planting of cane but we are also expecting that, as good corporate citizens, COMPLANT will play its role in other areas and aspect of the Jamaican economy.”
Montague gave the assurance that COMPLANT will have the continued support of the Ministry. And he commended the relevant stakeholders for their "sterling contribution" in finalising the deal.
The Chief Executive Officer of the COMPLANT Group of Companies, Tang Jianguo, said the the factories would now be upgraded. He also pledged to use local personnel to manage the estates, adding that COMPLANT would “set up collaborations with Jamaican counterparts to promote the development of the whole industry."
Tang promised to make efforts to strengthen the exchanges and communications to create win-win situations. "We will make every effort to push forward the development of the sugar industry of Jamaica,” Jianguo added.
The Government decided to sell the country’s five sugar estates, which were being managed by the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) following periods of huge losses, which resulted in debts of more than $18 billion.
In June 2009, the two smaller factories, Duckenfield, St. Thomas and Long Pond/Hampden in Trelawny, were sold to local investors with conditions to invest in their expansion and modernisation.
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