It is indeed most frustrating to witness the turmoil being experienced at the Agricultural Ministry regarding the shortage of banana boxes. This has to be a cardinal sin by leaving the farmers in such a plight, but more importantly, the PM has not seen it fit to reach out to the farmers in respect to this calamity. The nation’s number one produce (bananas) has remained in limbo for the last twenty-one days registering a total loss to the farmers who government promised to pay utmost attention to.
Martinique next door has thousands of banana boxes available at any one time based on their vast monthly export to France. Why has no one from the fifteen members of parliament thought of seeking assistance from that source? The question has been posed several times regarding the calibre of persons at various ministries and this is the perfect example of a square peg in a round hole. Watching the bananas being dumped on the side of the road after investing their limited funds and hard work is heart breaking to put it mildly.
What about the new market the farmers have developed as a result of the loss of the UK market share which crashed under this administration? We hear of thousands being spent on carnival, Jounen Kreole etc., but the hard-working farmers have been left in the dark and no organization on island has seen it fit to come to their rescue. On the other hand, we hear of all the ongoing criticism regarding our imported food bill. Where is all the support in favour of this argument? Let us hope that this unfortunate situation will bring some recognition to our farmers.