Deputy Terry Le Main is asking Economic Development Committee president Deputy Gerald Voisin to find alternative ways of funding the scheme and is seeking assurances that no more public money will be invested in the project.
The level of growers’ support for the vodka project has also been brought into question by Deputy Le Main in a letter to the committee president, which has been copied to all States Members.
At the last States sitting, Deputy Le Main received a written reply from Deputy Voisin to a question on the total amount of expenditure so far granted to the vodka project and the level of support for it among growers.
He was told that £105,000 had been granted and that the Jersey Potato Export Marketing Board had provided £15,000 itself.
The board had been awarded a total of £337,700 in operating costs for the three years 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Board chairman Michael Cotillard, who is leading the vodka project team, said the project had not received one penny from Economic Development.
The funding had come from the former Agriculture Committee, he said.
He added that the project did not intend to use any more public funds and that it was currently being co-funded by the Jersey Farmers Union.
In his letter, Deputy Le Main expresses his concern about the level of public funding and says he is ‘reliably advised’ that growers will not be supplying the marketing board with potatoes for vodka.
The majority of growers do not support the project, he says, adding that he knows of one ‘very large producing exporting organisation’ which will not be involved with this project.
