Theme: A Road Map to Sustainable Agricultural Production & Food Security INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Mr Speaker, I am very pleased this afternoon to address this Honourable House on the subject that is nearest and dearest to my heart – Agriculture. Mr Speaker, I wish to immediately reiterate my own commitment as well as the commitment of the Government to sustainably transform...

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Mr. Speaker, I am sure that we will all agree that the year 2020 will be etched in our individual and collective memory as a historic experience of monumental and unprecedented proportions. Indeed, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has placed us front and centre in confronting our strengths, our weaknesses, threats and opportunities, not just as individuals,...

These are unprecedented times. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked havoc globally with the way we live and our way of doing business. Our island was on the cusp of making major economic breakthroughs, but we are now suddenly facing the challenge of our lifetime, a challenge that affects Jamaica’s greatest asset: the wellbeing of its people. The Jamaican...

Mr Speaker, I wish to bring to the attention of this Honourable House a matter of serious national implication – the emergence of the Tropical Race 4 (TR4), disease previously called “Panama Disease” in this hemisphere and the potential threat it poses to the local and regional banana and plantain industry. Mr Speaker, The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and...

Transforming Agriculture Now Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to address this Honourable House this afternoon and to update you and the nation on my activities since the last Sectoral Debate. CONSTITUENCY Let me begin with my constituency. The constituency of N.W. St. Elizabeth is seeing its best days now. I have a meeting with my councillors, management team, supervisors...

Mr. Speaker, my task and my honour, today, is to close the Sectoral Debate for Fiscal Year 2018-2019. I think we will agree that the presentations and the discussions have been robust and that our democracy is alive and well. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Government, I wish to thank all our parliamentary colleagues for their contributions to this...

SECTORAL PRESENTATION By the Honourable Karl Samuda, CD, MP MINISTER OF INDUSTRY, COMMERCE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016 Theme: Growth Through Production SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE MINISTRY Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating the Prime Minister for his extraordinary vision in combining the portfolios of Agriculture and Fisheries and Industry and Commerce. In doing this,...

Mr. Speaker, you will recall that I addressed this Honourable House last week on the current dry spell and its impact on the agricultural sector. We have since, thankfully, got a little sprinkling, but we are by no means letting down our guards. In fact, the Government of Jamaica and, in particular, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, has been...