Sugar workers at the Caymanas estate, St Catherine
Sugar cane cutters cycle home after a hard day day cutting cane at Caymanas Sugar Estate Plantation, St Catherine Jamaica 2003. Caymanas was originally a slave plantation owned by Henry Dawkins and It is still used for the cultivation of sugar cane today and has been merged with three other estates to form one large plantation. In 2003 I had the opportunity of photographing the burning and harvesting of the sugarcane on the then Government owned Caymanas Estate. Using outdated equipment and sugar largely cut by hand in the searing heat, workers make up a substantial number of voters. So successive Jamaican governments have made every effort to keep the industry going. Today, the island economy relies mostly on agriculture and tourism industries. The sugar industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica, generating the third largest foreign exchange for the island.
Sugar workers leave on their bikes work after a long a la long day in the fields
Sugar cane cutters cycle home after a hard day day cutting cane at Caymans estate sugar Sugar Plantation, St Catherine Jamaica 2003. Caymanas was originally a slave plantation owned by Henry Dawkins and It is still used for the cultivation of sugar cane today and has been merged with several other estates to form one large plantation.