EDITORIAL - There is still promise in sugar

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Ambassador Derick Heaven is a man for whom this newspaper has the utmost respect and whose grasp of the intricacies of the global sugar industry is undoubted. Importantly, he has been a champion of the cause of reforming the industry, promoting the concept of a sugar cane, rather than a sugar, industry. It is in that context, therefore, that we perceive Ambassador Heaven's recent remarks about other countries' "envy" of Jamaica's duty-free access to the European Union's sugar market and our need to "put up a fight" to protect it as a statement about short-term tactics rather than being indicative of a longer-term strategy. For as Ambassador Heaven understands, that protection is on its way out. The problem, however, is that Jamaica has been slow to adjust. Recent developments, however, have reprised some of our confidence that a new paradigm in sugar may still be possible.