Dr Dayton Campbell - FILE PHOTO
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Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture Dr Dayton Campbell
The Parliamentary Opposition is accusing the Minister of Agriculture of failing farmers in St Elizabeth who were affected by hurricane Beryl.
Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture Dr Dayton Campbell, speaking in St. Elizabeth on the weekend, questioned the ministry's response to issues affecting farmers in the "bread basket parish."
He reiterated that Agriculture Minister Floyd Green represents the constituency of St. Elizabeth South West in Parliament, while his Minister of State, Franklyn Witter, is the MP for the adjoining constituency of St. Elizabeth South East, and that the entire parish of St. Elilzabeth "produces a quarter of the food in Jamaica."
Against that background, he questioned why, in the wake of Hurricane Beryl's passage, "we have farmers within the parish of St. Elizabeth who can't get seeds, who can't get fertilizer, who can't get access to farmroads, who can't get access to land, who have no storage..."
He also highlighted the lack of irrigation in some sections of the parish as well as a lack of financing, labeling the situation "a disgrace!"
He also bashed the agriculture ministry for what he claimed was a lack of effort in reducing the country's food import bill.
Noting that "agriculture employs the most people in the country," he rued the fact that "it does not make the most (economic) contribution to the country."
He criticised the two political leaders of the agriculture ministry, saying "they have not taken one item out of the importation basket in this country."
"Between the eight years that they have been there the country's importation bill has almost doubled," he charged.
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