Local news reports indicate that President-elect Hipólito Mejía may not so easily be able to fulfill his campaign promise to deliver the Consuelo, Ozama and Barahona sugar cane mills to sugar cane suppliers and workers. Sugar producers want the government to rescind the 30-year concession the government privatization commission (CREP) awarded the Mexican company, Zucarmex which operates in the DR as Conazucar. Conazucar won the tender for the Consuelo, Ozama, Quisqueya, Haina, Boca Chica mills and respective properties. But news sources say the contracts may only be rescinded if a mutual agreement is reached. Spokesman for the company, Guillermo de la Vega Canelos told the Listín Diario that the company has already invested more than US$20 million in the mills to prepare for this year’s harvest. The concession contract establishes that it can be rescinded for lack of fulfillment. But De la Vega says that it will meet its commitments with the US preferential market and will be able to supply local market demands with a much better quality sugar than what was produced in the past. El Siglo reports that the company would consider negotiations regarding the Ozama sugar mill but would require the return of investments made up to today. El Siglo reports that when the privatization process was held, the sugar suppliers, gathered in the Cooperativa Cañera requested ownership of 100% of the mills, and not the 49% contained in the terms of reference. The newspaper also said that the group did not fill minimum conditions to participate in the tender. The Ambassador of Mexico Mireya Teran defended the Mexican company’s winning of the tender five sugar mills property of the Dominican government. She said she has already spoken with President-elect Hipolito Mejia on the matter. She said that the concession contracts signed with the Mexican company were transparent and are legal. In a yesterday news report, former CEA director Ignacio Chiappini said that the Mexican sugar interests have taken over the local mills to bankrupt them in order to gain a greater hold of the Dominican participation in the US preferential market. He said the Mexican companies have not made any investment, rather that they have taken parts from one mill to put in another to repair the machinery. He also criticized that the Mexican group is paying sugar producers with sugar instead of cash. He estimated that Romana, Vicini, Consorcio Pringamosa (Central Azucarera del Este, Central Pringamosa and Azucarera Central) will produce sugar necessary for the local market and the US preferential market. The breakdown of sugar to be produced this year by the different companies is as follows, according to Chiappini: Central Romana: 120,000 tons of refined sugar, 200,000 tons of crude Conazucar: 85,000 tons Vicini: 80,000 tons of crude Azucarera del Este (Ingenio Porvenir): 35,000 tons Pringamosa: 8,000 tons Azucarera Central: 15,000 tons Caña Brava: 12,000 tons
