The organization formerly in charge of the country’s sugar production is selling the remnant of its once numerous herds of working cattle. At prices ranging from DR$12 (US$.75) and DR$18 (US$1.12) per kilo, the State Sugar Council (CEA) is liquidating 2,000 head of emaciated cattle due to a deficiency of food and water to sustain them. Martin Contreras, head of the CEA division that has charge of the sale, stated that "we weigh and evaluate the animals, and the buyers do business in the CEA’s headquarters." The head of the CEA, Felix Alcantara, stated that the sale was being carried out in accordance with a resolution of the CEA board. He added that the animals "are too old, and are useless for pulling the sugar carts." Cattle-drawn carts continue to be a picturesque, if diminishing, scene on the nation’s sugar plantations. Coincident with the privatization of the state-owned sugar fields and factories, the cattle are being returned to the CEA-owned ranches, reflecting an increased reliance on mechanized mans of sugar-cane transport among the new sugar plantation management.
