Farmers Concerned Over Agricultural Initiative Between Guyana And T&T

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad CMC – Agricultural stakeholders, here, are questioning a move that 10,000 acres of land will be made available in Guyana under the terms of a new facility to be administered by the Ministry of Food Production in Trinidad and Tobago.

Finance Minister Larry Howai, who is to deliver the 2013-14 national budget later, on Monday, is expected to announce the facility, following the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guyana government of Guyana.

Under the facility, investors will be able to apply to the Ministry of Food Production for licence to use the lands in Guyana.

These applications are to be made in the form of business proposals which will be evaluated by the ministry. The land must be used for the purposes of food production and to address demand for food locally.

But several groups including the Trinidad and Tobago Agriculture Society, United Farmers Association and the Trinidad and Tobago Cane Producers Association are expressing concerns over the initiative.

President of the Trinidad and Tobago United Farmers Association (TTUFA), Shiraz Ali, has called on the Kamla Persad Bissessaar government to disclose the names of the farmers who would stand to benefit from farming in Guyana.

In an interview, published in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper, Ali said that development of agricultural land in Guyana would not bring about a dent in Trinidad and Tobago’s four billion dollar (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) food import bill.

“If those T&T farmers bring in food into the country will it not be considered imported food? This effort is not going to bring a dent on the food import bill,” he said, noting that Trinidad and Tobago had more than 10,000 acres of fertile agricultural land which could be developed for farming.

“Local farmers are yearning for government support in terms of lease and infrastructure. We ignore them yet we plan to take selected farmers to Guyana and give them massive loans… This doesn’t make sense. What will be our return from this investment?” Ali said.

“Recently, the government gave 500 farmers two acre-leases but those farmers have no road access to lands, no water for their crops when dry season comes. How can they use these lands if there is no infrastructure? Why is government concerned about satisfying its financiers and friends rather than develop agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago?”

President of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ASTT), Dhano Sookoo, said the establishment of mega farms here were intended to cater for export market, but instead were causing a glut in the market.

She said Trinidad and Tobago had enough land to produce food for all of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“Proper freight arrangements are not there. All we have is schooners and we need proper refrigerated vessels to allow us to export. Why doesn’t government deal with these problems rather than focussing on developing agriculture in Guyana,” Sookoo said.

She said a lot of funds had been invested in agriculture here and “what we need now are leases and proper methods to sustain agriculture”.

President of the Cane Producers Association, Seukaran Tambie, also questioned the Guyana initiative, asking “is it big business or smaller farmers who stand to gain.

“What are the cost arrangements between Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana? It will cost more than $50,000 to develop one acre of land. Who will pay for this?” Tambie said, accusing the government, here, of trying to destroy the local agriculture industry.

NEWSDAY newspaper reported, Monday, that during the 2013 budget, Howai had noted that steps were being taken to establish such a facility.

“The Ministry of Food Production, with agricultural land becoming less and less available in Trinidad and Tobago, is moving to establish a Food Security Facility with the Government of Guyana,” Howai said. “The Facility would commit both Governments to expanding agricultural production in Guyana through the establishment of commercial relationships for funding the establishment of several large agricultural estates in Guyana.”