All-of-Government Approach to Assist Flood-Affected Portland Farmers
By: , January 5, 2024
Photo: Mark Bell
– Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (left) and Portland Eastern Member of Parliament, Ann-Marie Vaz, observe flood damage from heavy rainfall in sections of the constituency during a tour on January 3.
Photo: Mark Bell
- Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (left), tours flood-affected farms with representatives of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). They are (from left), Agricultural Land Management Officer, Ewart Miller and Parish Agricultural Manager for Portland, Kasif Smith. Occasion was a tour of the farms on January 4 following heavy rainfall in the parish.The Full Story
An all-of-Government approach will be taken to assist farmers in Portland who have been impacted by recent heavy rains.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, who toured sections of Portland Eastern on Wednesday (January 3) to get a first-hand look at the extent of the damage, said he will be having dialogue with Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, and Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Everald Warmington, “to see if we can jointly put some resources together to look at river training in this area”.
He noted that the Rio Grande, despite the farmers’ efforts to build trenches and drains, had broken its course, flooding fertile farm lands, with several banana and coconut farmers affected.
“We will have to take a comprehensive approach; we will take an all-of-government approach to deal with some of the issues. We will have to do some river training and river cleaning. It is clear that the river (the Rio Grande) is in need of desilting, and that is why we are suffering from these challenges downstream,” Minister Green told journalists.
He was accompanied on the tour by Member of Parliament, Ann-Marie Vaz, and representatives from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).
Prime Minister Holness is today leading a visit to sections of the parish where he will also assess the impact of the recent rainfall.
In the meantime, Minister Green indicated that a programme of response is to be crafted by his Ministry to get the farmers back into production as quickly as possible.
This will include the provision of input supplies such as fertilisers.
The Minister commended the spirit of the farmers, pointing out that “in these areas, the people are genuine farmers. They love it; it’s what they use to send their kids to school; it’s what they use to provide income”.
“Even in the rain that we had today, we saw farmers cleaning up their farms, getting ready again to ensure that they can be able to supply the food that we so need,” he added.