The New National Party Opposition continues its series of meetings with farmers and other segments of society around the island. The latest meeting took place on Wednesday 30th March as a team from the party met with the farmers and residents of the Clozier Community in St. John.
Dr. Mitchell accompanied by General Secretary of the New National Party Honorable Roland Bhola and Team Leader for the New National Party in the St. John Constituency, Mr. Alvin Dabreo discussed with the farmers ways of moving the agricultural sector forward in Grenada and in particular in St. John.
In his presentation to the gathering the former Prime Minister described the measures taken by his party during its time in Government to assist farmers and the agricultural sector. He stated that agriculture can be the basis for serious economic wealth and must be seen as such. He further stated that for the agricultural sector in Grenada to survive we must find ways of attracting young people and the best way to do this was to increase the volume of technology used and to show them the level of income that can be realized from agriculture.
The NNP Political Leader stated three specific areas that the present government should look into immediately in order to ensure the growth of the agricultural sector of Grenada. He stated that the first should be the area of making agriculture more commercial and providing the tools to the farmers such as irrigation etc. The second is the provision of small loans to farmers and fishermen to assist them to upgrade and produce more. He went on to describe that his government had done loan schemes during his tenure but that there needs to be changes to the way these were managed. He spoke of having learnt from the mistakes made in the previous loan program which can be corrected. He described situations in which farmers obtained loans and never used them for the intended purpose of upgrading their farms and increasing production. It is a government’s responsibility to ensure that such loans are made easily available to farmers said the Opposition Leader.
The third area mentioned by the NNP Leader is that of ensuring that a proper survey of what is more viable is done. He spoke of placing emphasis on produce which may be more profitable in a specific part of the island being produced in that area.
There was frank discussion with various farmers coming forward and giving their view on the way forward for agriculture including the re-population of the rural community as its de-population is seen as one of the reasons for a downturn in agricultural production. Another issue raised was that of the availability of fertilizer, planting material, irrigation and direct assistance from government for farmers affected by bush fires and natural disasters.
This latest consultation comes on the heels of others with various segments of the Grenadian society such as the banks, credit unions, hoteliers, the Grenada Chamber of Commerce, the Trade Union Council, farmers and fishermen.
The New National Party