The 2023 sugarcane harvest got off to a slow start today.Reports from some private cane farmers indicated that the large blue trucks/bins, which transport several tonnes of cane to Portvale Sugar Factory in Blowers, St James, arrived at a number of plantations late and caused some delays.Manager at Edgcumbe Plantation Richard Mayers said that his workers started cutting canes in Fire Hill, St George around 7 a.m. but the first blue bin arrived on site nearly an hour and a half later with the second one reaching the location at 11:20 a.m.At Drax Hall Plantation in St George, manager Phillip Whitehead said he also had challenges getting the canes transported to the factory.He said the first set of canes were cut around 8:30 a.m. and it took two hours for a blue bin to arrive.
