Back to sugar; new privately owned factory to open next month

File: The old sugar factory at St Madeline was one of the two that was operated by Caroni (1975) Limited

Trinidad and Tobago is getting back into sugar production but the state is not involved. 

Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning closed down the state-owned sugar company Caroni (1975) Limited in 2003, leaving more than 8,000 people out of work.

Now an entrepreneur is ready to open a private sugar mill to process sugar canes grown by farmers in south Trinidad. The $9 million facility will open next month, according to local media reports.

The owner, Mungal Singh, told the media the factory will initially operate two shifts with 20 workers on each shift. The factory would have a capacity of 80 to 100 tonnes of cane per day.

In addition to making sugar the factory would produce molasses and bagasse. Bagasse has several uses, including the manufacture of board and molasses is in essential component in the production of rum.

"We already have a market for the sugar and bagasse, but we are currently exploring the possibility of selling the molasses to Angostura Ltd," Singh told the Express newspaper.

"We used a consultant to design the factory, got all the necessary approvals from the EMA (Environmental Management Authority) and other relevant Government authorities," he explained.

The factory would use water from two artificial ponds and would be run on diesel fuel.