Leases and contracts to restore thriving local agriculture sector to be signed
Government has announced plans to sign a number of leases and contracts all aimed at laying the groundwork for the return of a thriving agriculture sector in the British Virgin Islands.
Minister for Agriculture Dr Natalio Wheatley made that announcement while speaking in the House of Assembly recently.
“We are on the verge of signing two major leases in Paraquita Bay for food production. One is for the construction of a poultry operation and the other is to build greenhouses for food production. These two lease signings indicate that food production is very much a focus of my ministry and this government,” Dr Wheatley said.
Dr Wheatley also said his ministry is working to get an additional contract signed to use their Paraquita Bay facility to help curb the growing issue of roaming of animals that are often seen throughout various communities.
He said: “We have received designs and estimates and are preparing to sign a contract to repair the pound at Paraquita Bay Agricultural Station. This will help to deal with the nuisance of loose livestock in our community.”
Purchases and repair works to strengthen infrastructure
Dr Wheatley said there are also plans to purchase equipment and conduct a number of repair works aimed at helping to strengthen the agriculture infrastructure in the territory.
The sister island of Virgin Gorda, for example, stands to benefit.
“We have identified a trailer which we will soon be purchasing to reestablish the Virgin Gorda substation, and the ministry is in the process of procuring animal weighing scales for the abattoir,” the minister stated.
“Also, we have taken steps to obtain a much-needed tractor, which will be a real benefit for our hard-working farmers. We are also repairing air conditioning units to make our valued staff in the department more comfortable and infrastructural repairs will continue in this recovery period,” Dr Wheatley added.
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A trailer for the VG substation?? Stop insulting the good people of VG.
Why is this Government talking about Greenhouse, do they even know why greenhouses are used.
Seems like he stop chasing the____________lol
Did I read Greenhouses ? ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ must be governments motto. To grow lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables under greenhouses in the tropics requires a highly skilled work force.
Better stick to marijuana, at least if you can’t sell the crop you can sit down and smoke it!
ROTFLOL
I wonder if fahie noticed that this guy placed all the members of his former party on the scholarship board?
This is all piece meal and disjointed action(s). Where is the comprehensive agriculture and fisheries master plan? In other commentaries, ie, Tourism Development Plan, some other bloggers call for a comprehensive national development plan(NDP). It was suggested that the NDP should be the core master plan that other plans should feed into. The West Minister system is a flawed process; the difference between the legislative and executive branches is blurred. This blurting results in people with little or no executive experience or knowledge about a service being in charge.
Stop wasting the people’s money.
Expensive greenhouses will not grow a single tomato until the farmers are educated.
What BVI farmers need is education and access to chloramine free water.
Please plow the soil and Grow Food..St Croix have no Green Houses natural products from the ground..Green houses and we haven’t gotten Tomatoes with out dressing from the last Green Houses..Rip to the Green houses..