Can Roger Clarke explain what happen to the sugar crop

As commonsenseja continues on its SOLO mission of holding big government responsible, while exposing the many issues associated with good Governance , I want to point readers to the following statements between Dec 2012 and July 2013.

It was just two days ago I wrote about Roger Clarke, the current Minister of Agriculture moving from just 4 acres of land in sugar before he became Minister to now 600 acres after becoming Minister. In addition I noted the following statements arrtibuted to Mr Clarke.

“A new wind is blowing through the industry,” Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke told cane farmers at the All-Island Cane Farmers’ Association’s (AICFA’s) annual general meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston on Thursday.

A cane farmer himself, Clarke said he had been justified in supporting and investing in the cane industry at a time when others were saying it was dead. He said even a Government minister said recently that the industry should be scrapped.

“In all my years in sugar, this is one year I can buy Allan a drink,” he said, addressing AICFA chairman Allan Rickards.

“My God, man! I can eat a food!” an emotional Clarke said, noting his climb from leasing four acres of land to having 600 acres in the crop at present

Less than 3 days after writing the above ( no I cannot see into the future, but I do have good insight), we hear something, which has turned all the above on its head.

Sugar Production Was Not Too Sweet After All – Ambassador Heaven Says Crop Season Was Disappointing

 

Jamaica Gleaner

Friday , July 27, 2013

“It was a disappointing year for the industry due mainly to the amount of cane that was available for reaping,” said Ambassador Derrick Heaven, executive chairman of the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA).

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130726/news/news2.html

 

Less than 7 months after the gleeful Roger Clarke was shouting how good things are going and how much ” food im ago eat”, we now hear, that the performance of the industry was disappointing to say the least.

The Minister of Agriculture needs to speak to the people of Jamaica on what happened and how he could have gotten it so wrong, as it its clear now that the Minister was way off track.

Are people paying attention to what is being promised and what is actually being achieved and then moving to hold people accountable ?

Sadly in Jamaica you can promise anything, make any kind of commitment and never deliver and its like ” it never happened” , its just business as usual once again.

Can we expect to hear from Mr Clarke on this matter, sadly I won’t be holding my breath and worse of all Jamaicans will NOT ask him to explain, how he got it so wrong.

What is more worrying for commonsenseja, is what are the other areas in which we are failing and what will be the likely impact on our Forex earnings and the economy at large, will I hear other voices apart from commonsenseja asking those questions ?