(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has ordered an immediate halt to the bulldozing of farmlands throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
In a statement yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said that while she understood the urgent need to deliver housing to citizens, “there must be equal consideration to the long-standing tenure of practice conducted by farmers in certain areas”.
Persad-Bissessar, who is in Brazil leading a 40-member public and private sector delegation on a five-day trip, also called for consultation between the Minister of Housing Roodal Moonilal and the Minister of Food Production, Vasant Bharath, to arrive to a solution to the issue.
The Prime Minister’s statement comes one day after farmers situated on lands at Crescent Gardens, Mausica Road, D’Abadie, had more than 40 acres of their crops bulldozed by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to make room for the construction of 800-plus houses.
The farmers, who were led in protest yesterday by president of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago Dhano Sookoo; president of the Sheep and Goat Farmers’ Association, Shiraz Khan, and president of the National Food Crops Farmers Association, Terrance Haywood, in front the Food Production Ministry in St Clair and HDC’s head office on South Quay, Port of Spain, have described the act as “clear vindictiveness”.
They are calling on Bharath and Moonilal to address the issue and ensure that they are fully compensated, issue a public apology, issue a certificate guaranteeing that they can continue to plant without fear and the removal of HDC’s managing director Jearlean John.
“Our farmers work hard, and this is what they do,” Khan said, pointing to the withered crops the farmers had piled onto the back of a pick-up truck and hung a bobolee named after John.
“The Prime Minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar), on the election platform, told farmers to stay on their land and continue to produce food and that is what we want to do,” he said.
Referring to a recent comment by Bharath about farmers who occupied State-owned lands, Khan added that “farmers who occupying the land with more than 30 per cent production will stay on their land and will be given land tenure. We stay holding to that and we demand that have to happen today.”
Sookoo, however, said “those responsible for that illegal act on Monday will now be held responsible.”
“You cannot go on those lands and destroy farmers’ livelihoods and expect to get away with it…so as farmers we will stand united in this cause and we will take it to the long haul.”
“So taxpayers don’t get up and blame farmers for high food prices. Blame the State, the Government and the HDC, blame Jearlean John and the HDC,” she said.
Bharath, who addressed the 100-plus farmers outside the Ministry, condemned the bulldozing and assured them that he had no knowledge of the act.
Asked whether he thought it was a lapse in communication between his Ministry and the Ministry of Housing as he is on record calling for a stop in the use of agriculture lands for housing, the Minister admitted that the HDC does not communicate with him with regard to housing development.
Also condemning the act were president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FITUN) David Abdulah and president of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) Joseph Remy.
