US$50-Million Sugar Factory in Clarendon to Generate 2,000 Jobs

• Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has welcomed a US$50Mn investment by Tropical Sugar Company Limited to re-establish commercial-scale sugar production in Clarendon. The new state-of-the-art, vertically integrated facility with an installed capacity of 50,000 metric tons will be situated in Chesterfield, near the former Monymusk Estate.
• Construction is set to begin in January 2026 and is expected to be completed within approximately 18 months. The factory will be built on approximately 11,000 acres of former sugar lands leased from Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings (SCJH) Limited and is expected to generate roughly 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, providing new opportunities to farmers, heavy equipment operators, factory workers, transport providers and small business owners.
• Dr Holness hailed the decision by the Indian investors to put into production a portion of the almost 50,000 acres of unutilised and underutilised former sugar lands owned by the SCJH Limited in Clarendon. The project is expected to improve the economic standing of residents in the area, noting that communities that once blossomed under sugar will be revitalised. The Government has been looking at ways to stimulate economic activity in the area, “so, when the opportunity came for an investment in sugar, in agriculture, we took it, but we were very clear that we are not about to return to the old sugar industry” he explained.
• Notably, the investors indicated that Tropical Sugar Company Limited will have the capability to produce brown and white sugar, jaggery and molasses, use bagasse for energy and process sugar for other byproducts and derivatives.
• High Commissioner of India to Jamaica, His Excellency Mayank Joshi, in his remarks, said that the project represents a “powerful convergence of heritage, technology, investment, and shared vision for India and Jamaica”.

(Source: JIS)