Tuesday, February 19, 2019

THE GLEANER, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2019 | | GROWTH&JOBS www.jamaica-gleaner.com

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Waste not!

Organic fertiliser company provides jobs for locals

and out of that need, I do it as a hobby while I was in school,” he said. From his hobby, he started his company 25 years ago. The company now provides an income for several families. At least nine persons are employed on a regular basis, but this figure goes up to as many as 35 in peak season. “Organic is the better way to go because our land is a non-renewable resource that must be cherished and protected for future generations,” he said. “It is in growing demand. The buzzword now is ‘organic’ and a lot of people are flooding the market, but I am telling buyers to be aware,” said Johnson. He said there is a plethora of fertilisers on the market, but these are not necessarily healthy for the environment. “I believe our soil is being burnt out with the salt fertilisers that is being put on it on a daily basis,” he said. “They will tell you all the good- ness that it would do to get your plant to grow well, they won’t tell you the side effects. It’s just like the chemicals that we use in our bodies; it cures one ailment, but it has six more side effects,” he said. Johnson’s company currently exports to several other countries, including the Cayman Island, Haiti, Bermuda and Grenada. His fertiliser is used by coconut, banana, cane, coffee and cocoa farmers. It is also used in the creation of blooming flowers. “The organic approach is to fortify the soil and once the soil is condi- tioned properly, if you put grass there, it will do well, or if you put a mango tree there, it will do well. Anything you plant will do well,” he said.

Nadine Wilson Harris/ Staff Reporter

AS THE manufacturer of organic fertilisers, Hugh Johnson has been protecting the environment and saving the Government millions of dollars in the process. Johnson is the managing direc- tor of Johnson’s and Son Organic Fertiliser Company Limited, which produces organic fertilisers, fungicide and insecticide. He manufactures these from waste material which would otherwise have contributed to environmen- tal pollution. “I save Rivertonmillions of tonnes of waste that would clog it up even faster than it is being clogged now, and turn that into a fine fertiliser,” he said. WASTE MATERIAL Johnson utilises waste collected from sugar, ackee, rice, and banana factories, and then uses a process to convert these wastes to fertiliser. From the cane factory, for example, he uses the trash. “I pack it in a particular blend and put it through bio-fermentation and break it down,” he explained. Johnson grew up on a farm in Kitson Town, St Catherine, and his father worked for both Caribbean Broilers and Jamaica Broilers. “There is a part of that operation where the litter that is left in the chicken house, it is obnoxious, it is not pleasant and it is an environ- mental hazard; it can’t be put any and anywhere,” she said. “So there was a great need for something to be done with this,

Nine-to-five jobs are redundant – Dr Eric Deans British High Commissioner Asif Ahmad (right) raises a point about promoting innovation in Jamaica, following a panel discussion on the topic. The discussion was held during the UK in Jamaica Trade Fair at the British High Commission in New Kingston on the weekend. Listening are (from left) Dmitri Dawkins, entrepreneurship programme director at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship; Alwyn Clarke, financial controller and business development manager at Continental Baking Company Limited; Dr Dana Morris Dixon, chief marketing and business development officer, The Jamaica National Group; Dr Eric Deans, chief executive officer of the Jamaica Economic Zones Authority; and Anusha Anthony, vice-consul at the British High Commission, who chaired the panel. CONTRIBUTED

A PANEL of professionals in the busi- ness and financial sectors agreed recently that having a flexi-work arrangement in place could increase inno- vation in Jamaica. The discussion took place during the UK in Jamaica Trade Fair, held at the British High Commission in New Kingston with major support from The Jamaica National Group, recently. The talks centred on ‘Encouraging Growth and Better Business through Innovation: Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward.’ “If you’re doing business with the UK, the UK is six hours ahead. If you stay in your nine-to- five, youmiss half the opportunity of engaging your partners in Europe. When you talk about China, China is 12 hours ahead. When you are sleeping, they’re working,” argued Dr Eric Deans, chief executive officer of the Jamaica

Economic Zones Authority, in response to a question from the audience about insti- tuting flexi-work arrangements to support innovation. “So to take advantage of the opportunities, this business of nine-to-five is redundant. You have to be available 24 hours,”he emphasised. Dr Dana Morris Dixon, chief marketing and business advisory services at The Jamaica National Group, says the Government does not always look to the future and understand global realities; therefore, the private sector needs to lead the way. DIFFERENT TIME ZONES “For us at the JN Group, we have businesses in Canada, USA and the UK, hence our call centre and treasury need to operate in those time frames,” she related. “Therefore, if I am going to attract young

creative people, they don’t want to sit in an office nine to five; therefore, to be an employer of choice, we need to look at our own organ- isation’s policies and structures to attract the labour that we require,” Dr Morris Dixon underscored. British High Commissioner, His Excellency Asif Ahmad, said consumers also need to set the pace for how they want to do business. “In the UK, something as simple as seeing your doctor is being re-engineered because traditionally doctors provided a service when you can least be at the surgery. So weekends, evenings, early mornings – these patterns are changing,” he said. “It’s the consumer power that will determine how businesses and government innovate and change. So I think we are pushing against an open door,” he concluded.