Hassan Alnesery

Assignment 1

GES#213

Sep 16, 2014

The Ethical Caribbean Sugar Industrial
Pamela Richardson and Ben Richardson had been adopted in their study on three

documentary films. The first film is The Price of Sugar film focus on the misery of Haitian sugar
cane cutters in the Dominican Republic. Second, Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Sugar is a short film
made on behalf of the company following its decision to source certified sugar from Belize. The
third, The Barbados Sugar Workers Video Project is participatory video facilitated by one of the
authors of workers views of the industry in Barbados. Pamela and Ben they are justifying the
use of documentary movies that best and fastest way to the mobilization of public opinion about
the issues. Documentary movies, is simply can reach for the different levels of people could get
sympathy from ordinary people, academics and decision-makers. The goals of documentary
movie production were different depending on the purpose for which prepared for it. The price
of sugar goal was to review the status of exploitation of Haitian workers who is working as cutter
sugar cane in the Dominican Republic.
The Price of Sugar documentary movie is important to reveal the human unfairly, in the 21st
century. The Haitian workers find themselves stuck in the plantation shantytowns, forced to
work hardest unfairly and dangerous. The sugar cane cutters have been working manually with
machetes, without machinery, while living in horrible squalor. Crowded into tiny metal roofed
shacks without electricity and lighting, they have no access to proper health care and lack getting
on clean water. Incidences of AIDS, dengue fever and malaria in the slums are reported to be
among the highest in the world. The workers had been working up to 14 hours a day, while we
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saw some part of the movie that some workers seemed work barefoot on the sharp stubble of the
cut stalks without shoes, they unable buy shoes, the worker earns less than a dollar per day.
According to the film most workers cannot buy enough food, and most of this labor gets their
daily calories by chewing the sugar cane. The Haitian workers are Confiscating of any
identification documents since arrival to sugar cane plantations; any one try to leave the
plantations will expose the risk of arrest. The Haitian children born in the slums are neither given
birth certificates nor granted Dominican citizenship, and so they share the same fate. According
of foreign department- Human Right report, were 650,000 such undocumented Haitians working
on the sugar plantations.
The main character appeared on the Price of Sugar documentary movie was Hartley, he belongs
to a rich Spanish family. He was a disciple of Mother Teresa. According the witness, he was a
stubborn, brave a priest who seems sincerely dedicated to rescue the poor. In the face of
opposition the beneficiaries of sugar industrial. He made some successful steps to assist the
workers; brings doctors, and other interested in human been fields. He sets them up on churchfunded centers.

The children became receive a quality meal every day, and eventually

spearheads the construction of a compound on church land with new sanitary houses.
The second film is very short, which does not exceeds four minutes. Is just advertising for Tate
& Lyle which gets partnership between Fairtrade foundations? The movie is simply marketing a
commodity based on making visible producers of agro- food and commodities. The filmmaker
revealed about their social relationships of consumers. The relationship is the basic assumption
to approach of commodity studies. There is more than six thousand cane a farmer in northern
Belize has been participating in this project according the filmmaker. These projects, including
who is working with the sole sugar mill in the country and Belize sugar industries. The movie
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focuses on how the Tate & Lyle assists the farmers in increasing and develop the producing of
the harvest sugar cane. The Tate & Lyle and Fairtrade investors have been promised to ensure
the livelihood of the farmers. In the end of the movie the farmers conform the Tate& Lyle and
Fairtrade foundation making a change and improve on their life.
The third documentary film is Barbados Sugar Workers movie focuses on participative and
cooperative how to creating self-employment opportunities away from monopolistic companies.
The monopoly companies have experimented with ugliest exploit of labor. Exploit create a
situation of social injustice. Monopolistic companies seeking to establish empires to swallow the
labor rights. The film contents simple interviews for labor in the sugar industry fields in
Barbados. The film sent a message of encouragement of all workers in Caribbean sugar industry.
This message is the self employment better from privatization of the sugar industry. The film
urging them to continue to keep their independence. Also, the message encourages other islands
to emulate the experience of the Barbados Island. However, ultimately reflect the kind of cultural
geography patterns of the Caribbean islands.
All these documentary movie concerns at sugar in the Caribbean from the perspective of who are
the producers of this movie only, using different ways. As we study analysis, we are potentially
best perspectives on the documentary films as revealing of illegal practices. Through a
comparison of these positions, we observe the production and distribution of these films have
contents completely vary ethical, interviews and replies.

The films have been drawing a

complicated image of what ethical trade and good sugar might mean in relation to the Caribbean
sugar. There are many critical questions about Caribbean the sugar cane industry. The operation
violation of human rights and the misery situation, that should be the central of academic
research that accompany the production processes. The questions include; why the Dominican
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government turns a blind eye on illegal immigration of Haitian labor? Who is the beneficiary of
that? There is only one answer to explain these phenomena that government is cooperating with
the owners of the sugar cane industry in the Dominican Republic. According the price of sugar
film, that there are tens of thousands of illegal migrants Haitians workers in the Dominican. The
labor treated as a way that is inhumane likes slaves. There are very important questions arise;
Where is the human rights organizations? Why United Nation does not to demand Haitian
workers right? Why the Haiti government making a complaint in an international court or in the
United Nations demanding stop the violations against Haitian workers? The silence of the United
Nations, explains that there is a political, financial power affecting to prevent any decision
against the sugar industry companies in the Caribbean countries. Also, ignore most of the
relevant countries to ensure the flow of sugar to their table by the low price.