The opposition United Workers Party (UWP) is proposing “short-term” measures it is urging the government to implement, measures the party says will help boost restoration of the Hurricane Maria ravaged agricultural sector.
The proposed measures speak to “a package of inputs to include appropriate grades of fertilizer pesticides, assistance with farm labour through the National Employment programme, {and} a monthly subsistence allowance of one thousand and five hundred dollars to commercial and non-commercial operators for a period of six months”.
Reactivation of an insurance scheme for agricultural products, encouraging young people to engage in agricultural productivity, and making agriculture a high priority subject in primary, secondary and tertiary education programmes are included in the recommendations being made by the country’s opposition leader and UWP leader, Lennox Linton, while also identifying, developing, and encouraging the use of appropriate technology in the agricultural production process are among other proposals being put forward.
The Dominica government through the Ministry of Agriculture is distributing some $18-million to an estimated four thousand farmers around the country as part of an initiative to revive the agriculture sector post-Maria.
However, Linton in a media statement alleges that “the current World Bank-funded social protection and/or farm rehabilitation assistance programme is designed to facilitate manipulation by ruling party politicians intent on abusing it to secure votes”.
He advises that prompt action is required to effect a robust development programme for the financing, production and marketing of agricultural commodities.
Several other recommendations are articulated in UWP Leader Linton’s media statement on the agricultural sector.
See full UWP statement below.
The nitty gritty of the revival being spoken about is which crops for which markets,how much and where and when.The vitivi approach to agriculture is what we need to get away from because it inevitably leads to disappointments and frustrations for farm families and wastage.We ought to start planning from the marketing end of things,both locally and export and work towards deciding which crops,when, where and the othet logistics needed to have a successful and sustainable agricultural sector in the country.Anything else will be futile and self defeating in the short to medium term which is not what the country needs.
This guys comments are exactly the opposite of the things that he spoke against in the past. NEP, giving money to people etc.
One can appreciate the fact that he now sees value in programs the government has already established and relief efforts done in the past.
Yet it seems hypocritical to make suggestions that rely on things you spoke against, it seems you want to take credit for something you did not create.
I honestly do not think this person really cares about his constituency nor the country overall, It may not be deliberate or it may be that he is overwhelmed with his own personal issues. The divisiveness he has brought to the country is a clear indication of his own mindset. Its time to rebuild the country together not time for politics.
Good try though, he may yet be redeemed from his negative words against his own country and negative actions in the past with positive ideas and actions now that he can implement on his own, through his own mechanisms if they…
It is good that the leader of the opposition attempts to get the government to focus on the agricultural sector- a true potential engine of sustained growth for the economy. The challenge he faces is that if you examine every one of his recommendations/suggestions they have been the subject of a paid consultancy or several programs have been implemented concerning them. As such it is not likely that much will be gained from this news release.
I do however strongly disagree with the subsistence allowance for farmers. Farmers must be shielded from the growing culture of begging and becoming un-self-reliant ( not a word ), in our society. Strategically the opposition leader should be calling on the government for a plan to get agricultural production to pre Maria levels. The incentive package that would allow this to occur in the shortest time.
Finally a commercial farmer is defined. If he is known or not known to be a Labourite, UWPite, Fredomite it does not matter. He gets help.
Not that the government is not aware of these recommendations, governments in the past have mentioned and spoken about these concerns. These suggestions are not new.
Workers party Team Dominica, my knob what has you lots ever done for Dominica a part from criticism and trying desperately to destroy Dominica like wild animals. I am saying to you lots workers calamity party so-called team Dominica up yourselfs!!!
You need a vacation…take a chill pill and obsessing over politics
The Leader of the opposition is having a laugh at his supporters and taking the piss out of Dominicans this guy is a joker and a con man, The opposition leader knows that he has a dog chance of being prime minister of Dominica, that is why he is trying to sabotage our country Dominica, and also getting all the money he can going round the world begging and begging, every day he is going to the well but one day the bucket bottom must fallout !!!!!
Go on the East Castke Bruce, Snake Coe and find out who are the farmers and who get $10, 000 and $3,000 . Men with not even a flower tree more less for garden and farmers, real farmers names were not , not on the list oh my , what a shame . Who removed the names the extention Officers put on the list. Farmers who sell to huskters regularly have not receive a cent. PM please investigate what is going on . I write what I know about and its true.
You lie just like Linton
UWP was the ones that kill the banana industry ask Mr James
If they were real farmers their names would be on the list. For your name to be on the list you have to register. So if you are a farmer and did not register you will not get paid.
Bull, the way it works is as follows, if you are a farmer but not a DLP supporter you get nothing but if you are no farmer but a DLP supporter and you applied you got the money. I’ve got evidence to this effect so not Labour supporter come on here now and tell me I’m telling lies. In due course I’ll put this evidence to good use…
The Leader of Opposition frequently appeals (demands) that government resolve issues that in most jurisdictions are taken up by the private sector.What is the purpose of the Chamber of Commerce, DAIC, DHTA or the Bureau of Standards for that matter? The quality of our products must be sufficiently high to compete in the region; we do not have a substantive foreign market for root crops , can we depend on local consumption to replace the foreign exchange required to reduce our negative balance of trade? We must be truthful. The average farmer holds 2/12 acres ; great for subsistence farming but not better than the cottage industry of soap manufacturing . The Bureau of Standards need to get to work and compare the products manufactured by us to those favored in the marketplace. The demands of the UWP were addressed by the government, but this deluge of advice and demands can only spawn more consultations with fewer results.
What bureau of standards you talking about. First asked urself if there is a functional bureau of standards in Dominica, where its workers are operating in a limited capacity without an office space for over 1 year now…and its seems like no one cares about that…but we breathing standard tho and that
We the people of Dominica needs more time on the DUTY AND TAX FREE MATERIALS to rebuild our homes .. Mr prime minister 6 month is not enough we have 1 1/2 months left not enough time
HE want to put put his two cent after government took loan to help the farmers. He is just there to create problems. What did he do to help with all the trips he took overseas.
I am not a fan of Mr. Linton neither am I a fan of PM Skerrit. However as an independent Dominican with no ties or affiliation to any party, I must say that I really like the proposals of UWP and if we are going to recover or offer any hope of a better Dominica, these ideas or suggestions should be welcomed with both hands. Should they be rejected I would conclude that the Pm might not be concerned about building a resilient Dominica as he often says because we cannot be resilient if we cannot use the rich soil God has blessed us with to our advantage. Let’s be ONE Dominica again and stop being divided. I just yearn to see the Dominica of the 80’s that was there for all of us
Agriculture and agro-processing should be pursued vigorously. Dominica is blessed with fertile soil and water. The country’s food bill is too large. Dominicans should grow most of what they consume. The excess should be exported regionally and possibly internationally. This would improve food security, and provide much needed employment opportunities. We are mere consumers of products, we hardly produce, create or manufacture anything. It is my conviction that our resiliency , success and our future would be heavily dependent on agriculture and agro-processing. Let’s all get serious about it. No more political gimmick.
Not taking political sides, I too think the govt needs all the help it can grab with agriculture. The UWP were strong on agriculture given they had no money when they were there , but had James who was an expert in that field. I would look for partisan tendencies in their proposal but much of it sounds like genuine ideas that can be advanced. The Drigo guy needs help because this is huge, serious and Bigger than he is capable of. They should welcome these ideas, put party aside. The money from World Bank directly to farmers or wanna-be farmers is great needed initiative, however, go beyond throwing money at it and have proper strategy in place. I don’the care who wins next election, this situation is huge!
It’s good that he is posting ideas, I fully support this. Hence I will, as an educated farmer, give some constructive criticism.
There are 5 core problems facing farmers have to be addressed before any success can be had, and from the posting, none were listed. Fertizlers and inputs are not problems- they are readily available from local businesses on island. To mention that farmers need inputs is insulting and serve to keep us dependent.
The 5 core problems we farmers face are:
Market for produce- there is always hearsay about demand, but when there is supply we can’t sell. Get us steady markets and we buy our own inputs. Y do we need $500 worth of inputs then harvest time have $50,000 worth of crop waste? It’s the reality.
Planting material- u wanna start a farm? Good! Go get 300+ banana, lime, coconut, avocado, plantain, Tania, yam, or any amount of Plant that u can make money on a 1st harvest. You just can’t. And if we really wanna make $$$ then we should start in the…
Available Labour: you got a full time job so u require a full time employee to work your farm? Ain’t gonna happen if it’s a Dominican. Simply put we need to import a Haitian workforce. Country people don’t want their children doing farm or farm labour. And it’s not going to change unless farmers get markets and people see us making money and the job looks respectable. Right now a farm is just one rank above vagrant in our society.
Feeder Roads: what can I say, outside of Skerrits constituency I doubt any farm roads have been maintained in the past generation. The expectation that farmers should maintain their roads, when business places in Roseau don’t maintain their sidewalks( much less the mainroad) is BS.
Training/ field exercises: too many farmers are using their grand daddy techniques and getting …. results. Or using their inputs poorly. The Gov’t workshops are few and far in between, it’s always the same …. Pushing a DEXIA agenda..
Hope this helps for future…
Ask Thompson and Danny if it have market and they will help educate u.
Our local and regional markets we can’t even supply it.
Fish not enough for plantain yam Tania all dat not enough so wat u talking about market?
We gave Affy Martin 2 rivers to export water
Not one bottle he exported but he want to give advice.
That is the problem with these people uno they giving advice they well need advice uno but they giving m
Lennox ask for some help for u to go plant something
Be of some value to ur nations
Talking about value to the nation, I wonder what value the likes of you and ‘man bites dogs’ are to Dominica. I tell you none, none at all because you help the dictator and his cabal to rob Dominica blind. You are parasites, that’s all you are. No use to your country, infact you are exactly the opposite.