(DNO) Agriculture Minister Mathew Walter says promoting agriculture business and food safety in the Eastern Caribbean were among matters discussed at the OECS Ministers of Agriculture meeting held in St Kitts recently.
He was addressing a press conference to brief the public on the meeting which was held from May 31 to June 01, 2010.
Mr. Walter said the ministers mandated the OECS secretariat to further develop the proposed new programme for OECS agriculture, paying special attention to identifying a set of agricultural products in which the OECS region has a competitive production and trading advantage.
“The Ministers agreed to designate a focal point from the ministries of agriculture to actively collaborate with the OECS Secretariat in the further elaboration and implementation of the proposed agriculture priorities,” he said.
Tourism consultant Sobers Esprit and a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Samuel Carrette also accompanied the Agriculture Minister to the meeting at the Marriot Hotel.
Something terribly wrong is happening in Dominica with the political leaders in power. If the Minister of Agriculture for more than five years takes pride in repeating such an insult which is an indictment of his performance and that of his government, then he is a jackass and has no right to be in cabinet.
Matthew Walter is the biggest disaster that the agriculture industry in Dominica has experienced since Hurricane David.
When will Skerrit realize that he can do without the incompetence of Walter, but again so far the level of incompetence demonstrated by the entire government is frightening. Skerrit must be cursing himself that Vince and Lorreen are gone, because the government looks like Skerrit alone, surrounded by a group of incompetent parasites.
Minister of Talk and no positive action. Agriculture has died a slow and painful death in Dominica under this minister’s watch.
Are you kidding me?
Agriculture has been dying slowly from since i can remember…
Let us accept the fact that agriculture was long dead before this so called minister arrived. The disgusting thing about it all is that, in the twenty-first century, there are people like him who wholeheartedly believe that agriculture is the answer to our economic woes!
Even Ron Green holds that stupid opinion.
The way that these half blind and backward people are talking about agriculture is something that we find imbedded in the mind of many of our people; they are reluctant to even think of changes, they prefer to hold on to the past.
A love one is dead and buried, and it does not matter if the surviving relatives cry over the passing of that love one, or visits the grave of the buried ( the dead) every day for the rest of their life’s, such efforts will not return the dead to life!
And with the same mentality, we find people in our country, who attaches themselves to the following attitude:
” That’s the way I met it, that’s the way it has always been, and it is good enough for me, so why chance the status quo.”
What happens to changing with the time; or, the era in which we exist?
If this man cared one bit about a certain amount of people in our country surviving on agriculture, shouldn’t he ask himself, this simple question:
” Why are we allowing merchants to import vegetables into the country when the same can be grown, and obtained on the island?” If he is the minister of agriculture, I would imagine one of his his duty’s would be to deny the granting of a license to anyone who wishes to import any type of agricultural product into the country.
Nonetheless, wonders never cases to happen in our country.
What does it matter?
We have in the past bought, and imported rock stones from Guyana, claiming that we do not have that type of rock in Dominica, when in fact the same rock can be found in one particular place on the island; and for all those who wants to know the location.
Here is a tip!
Recall the Edison James saga, and the alleged Crusher?
Well, if the great Crusher, is still on location, if we investigate, and do some excavation, we are sure to find the identical rocks we imported from Guyana lying dormant perhaps waiting on the Crusher, to process them for use in the building of the Sea Wall, at Point Mitchell, and where else they are needed on the island.
We talk about the advise that is given to us, by all sorts of organization, and other governments, nonetheless, these same advisors generally does not heed and compliment their very own advise in their country. Whereas they will advised Walter’s to force agriculture on our young men and women, they are into the industrialization of their country.
I suggest Walter focus his attention on the island of St. Kitts, and make a little comparison with the Hotel in which the meeting was held to any Hotel he chooses in Dominica, and ask himself why is it there is none like the one admired in St. Kitts, in Dominica?
Perhaps he should ask himself why is that St. Kitts seems more highly developed than Dominica.
And finally, this minister should question himself to see if he remembers how many Banana plantations he saw on the island St. Kitts, and how many Coconut trees he counted.
His answer should set his mind pulsating, I hope!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A MINISTER TO TELL DOMINICANS TO PLANT, TELL THE YOUNG PEOPLE TO PLANT AND SEE WHAT THEY WILL TELL YOU. OUR SOCIETY IS CHANGING.
i APPLAUD MATHEW FOR TRYING TO KEEP IT ALIVE BECAUSE HALF OF THEM PEOPLE WHO CRITICISE ON DNO WOULD NEVER GO AND WORK IN GARDEN. THEIR HANDS ARE MADE.
THE TRUTH IS THAT DOMINICANS ARE TOO DAMN LAZY.
” THE TRUTH IS THAT DOMINICANS ARE TOO DAMN LAZY. ”
I do not know where you’ve been or where you came from, but I doubt you are a Dominica born, if you are, then I suggest you are undoubtedly the stupidest Dominican to walk the face of the earth, either that or you do not know anything about the people of your country.
You perhaps live under a rock for too long; and have no concept of how hard our people worked on the plantations owned and operated by the British, and to some extent the American.
And in recent years, when we chased the white plantation owners away, in the late 1950’s, early 1960’s and take possession of the land.
Your eyebrows are jumping at the moment, since you are not aware that at some point and time there was a presence of Americans, involved in the plantation business in our country, and so I must take you back to more than eighty years ago. Those were the days, when lime, vanilla, nutmegs, and cinnamon (spice), and bay-oil, were king of the day.
Such products were eventually phased out when Folly & Barns arrived, followed by Guest Industries, and the concentration was shifted to the production of Bananas. Banana production paid more, however not enough to elevate poverty in the country.
So, more than a generation of Dominican’s toiled the plantations from the late 1950’s into the late 1970’s when Bananas were referred to as green gold in our country, many have died, never realizing any comfortable form of living from their hard work; all of their natural life on the agricultural plantations, and now an uneducated idiot like you have the never to come here suggesting that our people are lazy,and in the process giving praises to Walter for his crap of pushing for an agriculture based economy?
You are in this for a handout from Walter. It would be much better if you clean his mud covered shoe with your lips, and tongue, for that handout rather than printing unfounded, and uneducated comments, which makes no sense; nonetheless, to each his own, a foolish person is indeed smart in his, or her own silly sight.
You are so sick!
Your name should be Foolish Horse, that seem more deserving.
Go and dive into an Internet cafe, spend your pennies to respond to my comments.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque