The sugar harvest began this year in February. As I sat at my window looking at the Atlantic Ocean. I can see the trains carrying sugar cane, which were brought from the sugar cane fields, bound for the sugar factory to be formed into sugar.
This brings me back to thinking of the history of sugar manufacturing on these islands. The Nevis concept is somewhat different to that of St. Kitts, as the growing of sugar cane in Nevis was on private lands and sold to the manufacturing establishments. Whilst in St. Kitts the sugar cane plantations were owned by the European colonisers and people were employed to work on these estates.
The history of plantations goes back to 1 623 when Sir Thomas Warner colonised the islands. Tobacco was planted by using the labour of the Africans who were brought here as slaves. As time went on sugar was regarded to be more profitable and has lasted as an employment source in St. Kitts until this day.
Nevis has ceased sugar manufacturing and now concentrates on tourism as a main source of income. The mixture of the tourism and sugar cultivation formulates the income source of St. Kitts. The cultivation And harvesting of sugar cane has become less labour intensive now than it was in the days of slavery and colonisation. There is less hill plantings, which means the sugar cane can be cut and removed from the fields by using mechanical equipment. Prior to the use of this machinery, the sugar cane had to be cut and loaded into containers by hand which is an intense labour activity.
There was a period when cotton was planted and was harvested when the sugar harvest ended. This provided an alternative income for the employees of the estates. Prior to the building of the sugar factory in 1911, each estate manufactured their own sugar and in some areas, the chimney can still be seen. A visit to the factory was educational. Whilst no particular change has been made to the processing arrangement, (bearing in mind that we now live in an environmentally conscious state of awareness) the process fits in with the present lifestyle. There is little or no waste in the manufacturing process. The sugar cane casing is used to fuel the steam engines which process the sugar. The molasses, which is the dark juice of the first stage of the process, is used for different by - products, including rum. The waste from the roots of the sugar cane is returned to the fields to be used’ as manure for land fertilisation.
The future of sugar manufacturing today is in a state of uncertainty. It is not a pleasant working environment; therefore natives are reluctant to work in the sugar cane fields. This means that labour needs to be imported. It is also argued that the process is hardly able to pay its own way and has to be subsided. The question therefore is: what is the future for sugar manufacturing in St. Kitts? If sugar is not the way forward, then what is the alternative?
