Addressing Market Day with a Difference at the Roseau Market, Saturday, October 29 Norris Prevost, former Minister of Tourism under the UWP government and MP for Roseau Central called on government to take the politics out of agriculture, and replace it with love and real financial and other necessary resources.
“I love agriculture, I love my regular visit to the market to buy my fresh produce and my fish to make my broth. I am proud that agriculture made me the man I am today. When my brother Stanley and I graduated from St Mary’s Academy, our first business venture was to set up a small poultry farm. When I came back from University of the West Indies in 1969 with my Bachelors degree in Agriculture, I took our small poultry farm from a level of five hundred birds, to over 5,000 birds,” Prevost said.
He said agriculture is a noble profession for young Dominicans to go into. “I therefore want to hold up agriculture as one of the noblest and most rewarding professions for our young Dominicans to go into,” he pointed out. “For this reason, and for the love of agriculture, I make this earnest plea to government to take the politics out of agriculture and to treat agriculture with love and respect. Now more than ever the revival of Dominica’s economy, depends on the revival of its agriculture.”
Prevost argued that in order to revive the nation’s economy government must invest ‘real money’ into agriculture. “To do this, I call on Government to invest some real money into agriculture, to recapitalize the farmers who have lost their investments several times, over the last twelve years, and to provide the additional necessary resources such as, technical support, agricultural marketing, repairing the farm roads, and most importantly, the necessary training to encourage our youth to again see agriculture as a top priority for developing themselves and their families,” he said
I am looking to contact a Norris Prevost who attended the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus diring the years 1966-1969. We were both in Canada Hall South and neighboring rooms on the top floor.
If you are that Norris Prevost I would appreciate your replying to this message.
Thank you,
Claude Ho (ex Guyana)
ADMIN: We don’t normally put private information on the blog….if you need information on Mr. Prevost please send an email to [email protected]
Agreed the portfolio of agriculture should be run by a technocrat.
I endorse the remark by Mr Prevost. Dominica has its challenges but which country does not? The present administration has forgotten, ignored or have just put agriculture on the back burner.
We have just concluded Caribbean Week of Agriculture and it would be interesting to hear the evaluation at the end of this exercise.
Remove politics from agriculture and compare our Ministry of Agriculture and agricultural sector to those of neigbouring islands, I know that Dominica’s would come up wanting.
The present administration is not a scientific one, and so still thinks that science and technology have no place in agriculture to say the least.
The speeches made by the Minister of Agriculture, Director of Agriculture and the Minister of the Environment were embarrassing to put it mildly. I met with a few Caribbean agricultural officials and the reviews were not pretty.
I would like our government to take politics out of agriculture, get with the program and move agriculture from its doldrums. Start with repairing our Feeder Roads, subsidizing agricultural inputs, provide technical assistance then help farmers get market for their produce. We dare not let Agriculture die or we too will die!!
Agrigulture is the backbone of our economy, we can be a poster child for the rest of the caribean nation , by exporting fruits , and vegetables to the other caribean island . we love the farmer, but, there should be laws to punish the thieves who steal the farmars, fruits, of thier labours.
TAKE POLITICS OUT OF EVERYTHING! and leave politics where it belongs…. in POLITICS AND NOTHING BUT POLITICS….. politics shouldn’t come in when we talking about landslide and the price of cheese! and any other thing not related to poiltics….. politics should die out afta the elections
I heard the speech and I thought it was a lame and pathetic attempt to score political points while at the same time asking government to take politics out of agriculture. It was the wrong place and time for this comment. That is why Mr. Mc Intyre rightly invited him to the house to fight for the farmers. Stop playing politics Mr. Prevost.
If agriculture is not the way out for us, then what is?
In every person there are special gifts deposited in us by our creator, to enable us to become what we are suppose to be in life. We cannot ignore our gifts and try to take hold of another person’s gift to move on.
Similarly, it is important for us to discover what God has blessed us with as a nation, and se to it that we take steps to develop what He has blessed us with. St. Lucia for example, though they have some water, fertile soil, and some mountains, God blessed them along with B/dos, Antigua and other islands with some beautiful beachesand as a result, they can compete for the foreign dollar through tourism.
God in his wisom blessed us with a very heavy rainfall, very fertile soil, lush green vegetation, lots of rivers and fresh water, like you will find nowhere else in the world. So we don’t have to compete with anyone because we are quite unique in our own rite. So all we have to do is look for ways to improove agriculture, motivate farmers by giving insentive to them and make the farm accessible to them, and look for markets (trust me there are markets especially now, when everything seems to be poluted). If we do that in a non patisan way
I am persuaded that Dominica will find a name on the world map.
I am not saying that we should ignore tourism simply because we are not know to have white sand beaches. Tourist like what we have and they will pay to see what we have. We just have to understand that agricure leads the way and other markets should do nothing but play a supportive role.
So well said Mr. Prevost and I hope the government does not play politics with your wise counsel but instead, they embrace it and look for ways to implement your burden because you are an example of how agricure could turn lives around.
Although this is a very good comment,it is applicable to the opposition as well.Even though I am RED, I want tosee the opposition in parliament helping the gvernment to make adequate decisions for the benifit of us all. We still playing politics on iether side. Norris still operate hate and love because Norris with all sense to put away malice and return to parliament. Good article and god bless dominica.
Mr Prevost I agree with you. You could not have said it any better well said my brother. I believe you need to go to parliament and do your work leave Geen and his partners alone in thier stupidness it looked like nothing good will ever come out from Green and his buddies.
Close down this stupid country, apart from Rosie Douglas, skerrit, prevost & James all the same, Dominica will always be poor and following her sister islands, best decision of my life was leaving that place, look at that, dem fellas still fighting about Agriculture at Independence time.
MR. PREVOST ALWAYS BLAMES THE GOVERNMENT WHEN
EVER HE TALK. LAST HE DID THE SAME AT HIS
MARKET DAY SPEECH.
Good Mr.Prevost,i hope they listen.I hope the youths take a page from u and that the government makes agriculture attravtive to the youths so that they can employ themselves and feel empowered.Agriculture is a noble proffession twhich makes one feel free.Anyone who tries to destroy agriculture,would be destroying the root and foundation of this blessed land.
Well said Mr. Prevost. However we must take politics out of Agriculture. From the time we lost preferential treatment for or Bananas, agriculture has been a challenge and in most areas we have seen declines. This started hapening before the UWP and the DLP came to office. Yet Mr. Prevost in his call to remove POLIOTICS from agriculture sites the last 12 year period that would only assign responsibility for the decline in agriculture to tht DLP… very strange I must say
REMIND ME PLEASE OF WHAT THIS MAN DID AS MINISTER OF EMPLOYMENT. ONE TOUGHT COMES TO MIND “BROKE A GLASS IN PARLIARMENT”
You dolt. Comment on the article, you just may sound much brighter. Focus on THE MESSAGE, THE MESSAGE;
A lot of glasses in your brain have already been broken,so much so that you may be beyond repair.You obviously do not have the capacity to understand the literature written,so your crass ignorance ison display like a badge of honour.It is one of the malaise that is blighting this country,eople like you and your ilk.
Finally some real substance and genuine sense if care in statements being made. Dominica needs to be able to supply 100% of the food it needs. Any imports should be luxury items. We have enough fertile land and space for our agriculture and farming. Once we can self sustain, every other door will open. And if politics plays any role in our agriculture then yes, it must stop. I would like to hear more of these statements being made
Whenever this gentleman speaks,i listen.I see him as one blessed with wisdon, knowledge and understanding.These comments cannot be more spot on than this.
The fact is though,the Skerrit cabal is on a mission and unless all the productive sectors of the economy are destroyed, they won’t stop their pillaging. It is a shame to see whatthese have done to agriculture,and diversification is no where in sight..It the hallmark of an incompetent gang, groping in the dark, AND DOING THEIR DESTRUCTION IN THE DAY..GOOD PIECE HONOURABLE PREVOST. Wish you were my Parl Rep..
if so advise him to go to Parliament where he can represent those who voted for him…so that their voices can be heard…\
that sounds educational and exemplary,and also a major factor would be, is to find an outside market for export of agricultural produce,though he did not mention it,but still that is the kind of collective effort we need from both opposition and government officials to further the cause of dominica,and stop behaving like the republicans and democrats in america
What kind of person would click dislike for this comment? smh…I tell you…this place aint going anywhere anytime seem with people like that in it.
100% in agreement.
I’m one to bash statements made by UWP members, but this statement makes a lot of sense. I’m one to say when something is good, and not judge it by who said it, or who did it.
Dominica will not progress or survive with all the negative attitudes. Stop the party divide and start thinking of Dominica.