Dear Editor,
The current food crisis facing our country and the world especially the Caribbean is indeed worrying and I think it is now nationally accepted that we are heading for a global crisis.
I think we are at the point of acknowledgment that VAT is definitely not the cause of the situation facing us even though some anti-government elements would want to peddle those lies for their own political gain.
During my internet research, I read a report written by a Hester Brown on ethanol production in which he clearly states that “we are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before.”
The article further referred to the situation in Mexico, where corn meal prices are up by 60 percent, China which is faced with rampant food inflation and Italy where pasta prices are up 20 percent. Even in Pakistan, the flour prices have doubled.
If we turn to the Caribbean, we can see the devastating effect already being felt particularly in Trinidad and Tobago. In fact, I recently read about the effort by T&T to cultivate additional lands.
Guyana, as we all know, is well-known for its productive ability and maybe as we look to the food crisis we can see opportunities arising from the situation. The potential is there for us to produce and export more especially since the market exists in our neighbouring countries.
Yours faithfully,
Julian Mortague
