The Government of Dominica has promised farmers a special payment rate of $1 a year on any quantity of land they wish to acquire for agricultural purposes.
This is according to Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Roosevelt Skerrit.
“Any farmer, any person in Dominica who has a program for agriculture; you want to cultivate 20 acres of land; you want government land; we give it to at $1 per year. The law says 60 per cent or 6.5 percent, I’ll give it to [you] at $1 per year. We will speak to you about financing that investment. Come and see me, anybody,” he stated at a press conference in response to a question from the media on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister sacked criticisms against his administration stating that not efforts are being made to revive a declining banana and agriculture industry.
However, PM Skerrit believes that persons making such claims have agendas, adding “Everybody has an agenda”.
“We inherited a debt of over $38 million dollars of the Dominica Banana Growers Association, we have cleared that debt … including monies owed by farmers themselves to the company.
“Raymond Austrie, who was a permanent secretary and so forth and also the first general manager of the Dominica Banana Producers Limited has said on public record that from his knowledge of the industry that was the first government that had used local funds to support the banana industry. Every government before this one our assistance to banana farmers was driven by the European Union Program…” he stated.
The Dominica leader justified that the Government has consistently subsidized fertilizer, and in some cases given it free of charge. He also noted that monies are available to farmers at the Agricultural Industrial and Development (AID) Bank at zero percent. Farmers are also entitled to duty free on everything they import, he said.
“Yes there may be challenges, we need more support but I don’t think it is fair for anybody to say that this Government is not giving the kind of attention to agriculture…You will see the number of greenhouses that are abandoned…people are not using it. Most of them were financed by the government 100 percent. Now on average, a greenhouse costs about $15,000…We have to make use of what we have,” he added.
The prime minister challenged farmers who claim they have not received support from the Government to have a meeting with him in person.
“The support that some people may want the law may not allow the Government to do it. We cannot go and say we gonna compensate people for a bird eating their fruit…We have been providing support to them. The kind of support that people may want may be out of the reach of the government,” he assured.
“So we have to be fair with the Government, because the Government can only give what the government has in the Treasury, the bank accounts and we have to do it within law. The same transparency and good governance that we want to promote we have to promote it for everybody …,” he said.
I was born on this island but lived abroad for 40+ years,when I left there were three main religious denominations,now I can’t keep count,seems to be a new one every minute.
A farmer discussing farm issues must quote the bible,riding on a bus there’s apolitcal discussion
on the radio,again a quote from the bible,eating at a restaurant the music on the cd player is some
type of chrch song,I had a slight misunderstanding with a shop keeper,he feels it necessary to
mention Noah’s ark. I just know it was not like this 40 yrs ago.Its not only incredibly boring,but
also extremely unhealthy,seeing as most people are just average,why pretend to be so righteous.
As the great Bob Marley said:
IF NIGHT SHOULD TURN TO DAY
A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD RUN AWAY.
Is this offer open to Canadians? If so, I will take 40 acres for.$ 2.oo and show the people that crops are still a very good investment. We are planning to come to Dominica and purchase a piece of property, but the cost of land on Dominica is so high, that even the Pirates have left.
At what point does the land become the property of the farmer; can he/she obtain a title to that land so it can be sold at the going rate some time down the road?
A few things need to be put into perspecive after having such a statement made by the PM. i yet to pronounce it as a statement as it is not official that is it has not been gazetted. now lets get this clear in our heads. 1. the law states other wise as recognized by the PM so this plan needs parliament approval or some amendment to the law in order for it to be legal( remember is transparency we are working towards)
2. such a plan should be of a greater plan that is well structured to improve productivity and it should not be a come to me(at the PM´s office business), simply another I am the BOSS strategy.
3. where is the minister of agriculture, the cart is before the house on this one, the minister will simply sing the same tune later on with no idea of how this program is going to be administered.
4. Are we going to have a situation of persons simply identifying state land and go to the PM, who is then to review the agricutural plans these persons have and approve a $1 deal, its ridiculous administering a public policy in this manner. such a situation only provides for more corruption and under hand deals. trust me the best lands goes to the closer buddies.
The idea is a good one with no doubt. However, it shouldn´t be a case of such an important issue being delat out of the PM´s office who isn´t the expert on agriculture or investments. consideration should be given to 1. which lands are better suited to certain crop cultivations 2. accessability 3. what would happen given a situation of excess production of a certain crop because of lack of coordination 4. market availability 5. follow through and availability of technical assistance to persons wanting to take advantage of the program etc
@RICK ROSS: Mr. Rick, you guys want everything in the form of a hand out? You already getting land at $1.00 you still want inputs and everything else, next thing you will ask for is that they come and sell your produce for you huh?
I am not a farmer and never will be, and I’m a Dominican living abroad. I may not qualify to speak on farming, and no, have never carried a banana on my head, but I am qualified to speak for my cousins and friends in Dominica who has given up farming due to the cost. Providing the land to farmers at an annual fee of $1 is a blessing, and everyone may say that the farmers should take advantage of such a gift, but please be mindful of the following. Most farmers have given up on farming bananas because they have lost more money in growing and maintaining the produce than they can keep in their pockets. With so many stipulations place on producing this product that discourage farmers. Stipulations such as having the right size, weight for each hand of banana, and if one hand does not qualify then the entire box/load is rejected. Then there are the expenses of just trying to keep the crop up to par. It costs the farmers more to purchase the fertilizers, the spraying, and basic maintenance of the crop. How about aiding farmers who already have the land in providing the fertilizers/spraying etc at a reasonably discounted price so they can make a profit. I believe that would be better than offering land, any number of acres, for $1. If you buy the land for a dollar, then how is one going to maintain the produce. Hope the rules and regulations for the banana industry has improved for the better since those facts were discussed a few years back.
Best of luck to the farmers.
That’s a great move mr PM if you are very sincere within. Agriculture is not only using a cutlas or a fork by the farmers for their tools but there a many other ways they can come up with to utilize the land. Good luck farmers!
I am more interested in statistics. What was the revenue generated from the sale and export of agricultural goods 10 to 15 years ago compared to now. If we see increase then the present Gov. is doing a good job. If we see decline then somthing is not working. Development is in the results.
Two suggestion:
we need to get involved more in processing, changing our agricultural raw materials into higher value goods. It will create jobs in every aspect ( production, transportation, engineers, accountants, advertisment, etc etc. The list goes on.
Secondly, the government should impose higher taxes on land registered as estates that are not producing, or adding to the economy. Example: the Hampstead Estate which is prime land for agri production is being underutilized or not utilized at all. This will force such estates to get back into production or find some ways to be put in good use.
After all our coutry depends on its resources ( LAND, human, and capital) to be sustainable.
Would the cultivation of Cannabis Sativa on the land be considered agricultural purposes? It should be. Can someone please confirm?
Now let us hold our breath for a moment.
Normally one would expect such a promise or announcement – ie land @ $1 per year – would flow out of a program that is being developed or has been developed in the Ministry of Agriculture or whichever authority that is responsible for the administration / planning of crown lands. Let us assume that the program is part of an agriculture development plan where improved access to crown land was identified as an opportunity for growth and development of the sector.
If this is the case, then perhaps we should all wait for the official announcement of the program when the details would become available. Surely this is not asking for too much. Is it?
Hope the farmers take advantage of this..what else can the man do,plant for the farmers?good look Mr.P.M.
As a female farmer,
(yes people i farm all you never see me in the market selling my produce and my coals)
i received assistance from the Government and was very pleased however the follow-up support
that is needed from the technical people on the ground is not forth coming and as a result it defeats
the whole program. For example there are suppose to be feild workers for all areas and when you
need them they are no where to be found but they drawing big saleries and they claiming mileage
like joke. I lost fifteen goats in a space of less than two weeks because my feild officer was no
where to be found after several calls, praise God my father try a ting and we were able to save the
others but i sure the officer have my name on his list for site visit. People Agriculture might be hard
work and it will take a little time to get paid but trust me you can make money. PM i coming for my
dollar land because i have enough plans.
This is a sham and a trick $1.00 for farm land. What about the inputs, who is giving that to us. And what about the farmer, who is paying them. What about the equipment and transportation. And them man not even talking about market for the produce and maintenance.
That government and Skerrit think he smart…$1.00…you think is so I giving you the $1.00 and I have to do all the work involved.
You had laugh me huh…..steuuupssss
Wow…. That’s great… All involved in agriculture should take advantage of the opportunity. Those looking to misuse should stay away before they make it fail.
Also P.M. I would prefer go to the minister/ministry of Agriculture…. If you want to keep it transparent and in line with good governance that would be the best way to go…
Great Initiative. Really Good Job. Stick To Your Words… Its On The Record… (Even though I Did Not Hear About It In The Budget)
Good looking out P.M.Blessing will continue to come your way and your critics will continue saying bad things.Let em talk.You were born a winner.
Dominicans rely on Government to much, Government send us to primary school, send us to secondary school, send us to college and still we want more and more.
farmers spend to much time veyering dere woman and spend their monies stupidly… they do not spend enough time on the fields. and when they on their fields they still texing all day and not producing.. what you put in to your farm is what you put out. we are too lazy and like freeness
Dominica has alot of land.. i am coming to see you mr pm….
This is an excellent program, farmers should take advantage of this program, more the acarage less the cost of cultivation. what i would like to see is proper plan of agriculture reform which includes food prossesing industry . we cannot produce only fruits and vegitables what we need is to add value to it, that is were the money is.we also need to provide the farmers with the id and the vendor an id to eleminate the problem of theft, this is a very big problem, Goverment should also reform DEXIA, where this organisation will buy any thing produce by farmers at the set prices, this organisation will clean and package the produce for export and were hockesters will come and buy in bulk. This is how goverment can control the local inflation. Look at the Grenada model. With land reform co opratives should be made for example tamato if Da have 100 farmers DEXIA and ministry should know what is a acarage and what is the yeal and do the production based on local consumption where the local import bill is recuce.
But the most important thing we need is proper AGRICULTURE REFORM
come see me?, i wonder why u. a working goverment would desing a policy with favourable terms so the all famers can acess the benifits and financing available for the required development of the agricultral sctor which is a essential sector for the development of Dominica. the technical person or the manager of the ministry of agriculture is the person task with interfacing with the famers and not the politicians. i have seen this behaviour demonstrated elsewhare in south America. i guess this syndrome is catching hum.
I am waiting to see what sort of reponses this will get.
Makes soo much sense. Why do we behave like fowls so nuh? Memoir Pol