What We Do
SCJ Holdings Limited being a wholly owned Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Company will operate its business consistent with the applicable policies of Government ensuring at all times that our operations support the Country’s developmental objectives.
SCJH’s projects will provide land to support:
- Increased production of renewable energy from biomass, solar and wind;
- Job creation in agriculture, mining, light manufacturing and housing construction;
- Improvement in housing condition of former sugar workers through the regularization of land tenure;
- Increase in foreign exchange earnings from the export of agricultural and manufactured goods;
- Increased production and improvement in productivity of selected agricultural areas;
- Growth in heritage, eco-tourism, and sports.
Historical Background
SCJ Holdings Limited was formed December 12, 2001 and became the holding company for three companies namely, The Sugar Company of Jamaica Limited, St. Thomas Sugar Company Limited, and Trelawny Sugar Company Limited. In July 2009 the Divestment Team successfully divested the Long Pond, Hampden, and St. Thomas sugar estates. The Government thereafter took the decision to wind up The Sugar Company of Jamaica Limited which was the Company responsible for the operations of all the Government-owned sugar estates up to August 2009. In July 2009, SCJ Holdings Limited (SCJH) (T/A Sugar Divestment Enterprise) was given the responsibility to divest the remaining Government-owned sugar assets and at the same time continue the operations of the Frome, Monymusk, and Bernard Lodge Estates with the objective of divesting these two operating factories and three estates.
In July 2010 COMPLANT International Sugar Industry Company Limited of the Peoples’ Republic of China (COMPLANT) entered into an Agreement for Lease and purchase of the remaining assets being the Frome, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge Estates. As a direct consequence of this Agreement these sugar assets were handed over to COMPLANT on August 15, 2011 at which time all the six former Government sugar businesses were now in the hands of private investors.
The core functions of SCJH going forward will be to:
- Implement projects to support the divested sugar estates;
- Manage the schools and health facilities on the divested sugar estates;
- Separating the infrastructures on the estates between the new investors and those displaced sugar workers and other entities;
- Remedying all pre-existing environmental breaches on the divested estates;
- Monitor the development plans of persons and companies that have leased the Government’s sugar assets;
- Provide technical support to private investors;
- Monitoring of the private investors in accordance with their business plans.
SCJH also has the responsibility of the management of over 55,000 hectares of land located in several sugar-dependent communities spanning 32 political constituencies in six (6) parishes.