Sugar not sweet!
Well, in case you haven’t heard, sugar from Caribbean countries (like Jamaica) suddenly is not as sweet as it used to be. The European Union Commission has decided to cut the price they pay for sugar imported from this region by a whopping 39% We have an expression here that goes…’Everyhere you turn you get frig!’ Sugar used to be a big income earner for us, and still provides livelihood for many. Now this. Bauxite and alumina production used to bring lots of money….not so for many years now. Ok, so we still grow bananas…Ivan came last year and blow down most of de tree dem. Industry just start to recover….locally we paying big bucks for bananas right now. That not so bad…we still have some tourists coming here. But, cause of crime, nuff of the other countries in the Caribbean getting favoured over us as places to lay off on the beach and sip rum. Yeah, but dat cool…we still a grow coffee…Yes, we still have plenty a grow up inna de Blue Mountains…Ivan did affect that too. Earnings from coffee don’t feed as many people as the sugar industry. Sigh.
Bwoy, the sugar tasting kinda bitter now. Would be lovely if the rest of the world could do a similar thing to OPEC countries and simply decide to drop the price of crude oil by 39% eh? Anyhow, I gone go get ready for work.
June 23rd, 2005 at 10:27 am sugar been getting unfair since long tiem gwan. they keep dropping price and cutting quotas.
June 23rd, 2005 at 11:04 am Ahm… is me, or dis nuh sound right? The BUYER dictates the price? Since when? Can I go to Super Plus and demand I pay only $10 for a $20 tin of something? *kiss teet*
June 23rd, 2005 at 3:12 pm Hi Dr. D. So where is Europe getting their sugar from? It’s scary when you list what Jamaica isn’t producing any longer for the well needed monies. Not only that, my girlfriend who owns a watersports business in Jamaica for over 20 years have told me that even our waters are so polluted that there will soon not be any sea life for tourist to see. She’s been trying to fight for the Jamaican government to be more environmentally friendly regarding this, but they don’t care. They haven’t done one thing.
June 23rd, 2005 at 3:20 pm Here is another article from the Observer. I find it a bit more informative. The government did try to get soemthing done Sunny…but they have not reaped any joy from their effort it seems.
June 23rd, 2005 at 9:11 pm Bwoy, we look like we in some deep shyte! Might have to start exporting our most precious resources, our ladies and gentlemen! (on second thought, we doing that already…never mind).
June 23rd, 2005 at 10:55 pm well I haven’t read the article, but I am a man who can expound at length pon any topic unda di sun. Fyr, seller rule buyer when buyer have plenty sup’m dat seller don’t really need or want. Sunny, Europe getting their sugar from beetroot… I believe they grow it themselves! Basically, European countries have been carrying the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific ex-colonies)countries for years, especially England has been doing it. They don’t need our banana or sugar, they only buy it out of a sense of guilt. Hell, they were even buying banana at higher prices that they could get it at from Chiquita, and its not our quality.. They realise taht they used our countries to get to where they are and it look bad for them to just fling us way. Anyway, since this European Union thing, Germany has been pressuring all the other member countries to do away with all the preferential treatment… damned Nazis!
June 24th, 2005 at 9:28 am Problem is that the EU really doesn’t need the sugar. We have been getting preferential treatment for decades. Too many alternative sources unfortunately. I really wish we could do the same with OPEC. It’s not impossible if we identify sustainable alternate fuel sources. I was intrigued the other day by a research paper somebody did on using water as fuel. Still needs lots of work but it provides a bit of hope that somebody is looking at a long term alternative to fossil fuels.
June 24th, 2005 at 9:30 am Scratch….when that time comes around….then H2O will become what petrol is today!
June 24th, 2005 at 9:30 am I didn’t see MB’s post when I was typing mine but it’s what is happening.