Dear Editor,
I am referring to a statement made by Mr Robert Persaud, the Agriculture Minister when he visited Mabaruma, Region One on March 16. The topics were the supply of drinking water to Region One and the performance of agricultural officials in the region.
According to GINA, Mabaruma residents expressed similar concerns as those in Moruca. When I spoke the Minister gave the caution that this was not a political meeting. What I did mention has been distorted; what I mentioned was that his officers do not visit the farms. The farmers in turn meet these officers at their office. I told him that many years ago officers met the farmers on their farms.
The Minister presented to us a group of officers, some of whom I have never seen before. Some of them have no track record in Region One. They are as green as October cabbage. When the Minister asked the gathering to indicate by raising their hands if they were visited frequently by these officers, only twelve out of fifty farmers raised their hands. One resident said the last time he saw an officials at his farm was in 1998, although they had to pass it.
The Minister then questioned the officers as to why they were not visiting the farmers as they should. The reply was that sometimes they did not have adequate gasoline to make the trips. Minister Persaud advised them to arrange their trips at the same time as the Forestry Department when both could visit riverain areas simultaneously.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Hope
Councillor
