An unresolved rift in 2019 between the community of Golden Grove and President’s College over pasture lands forced the Ministry of Agriculture to redirect funds that were earmarked for the establishment of a dairy processing plant.
This disclosure was made during yesterday’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, where Government Chief Whip and PAC member Gail Teixeira scrutinized the ministry’s shortfall in expenditure. The shortfall was highlighted in the Auditor General’s (AG) 2019 report and it was pointed out that the budget agency recorded a $1.7B shortfall.
According to the AG’s report, as at 31 December 2019 the sum of $239M, from the Caribbean Development Fund Rural Agricultural Infrastructural Development Project had been expended. This resulted in a shortfall of $111M or 32% in expenditure for 2019. The intended benefits of the project, which included improved access to agricultural infrastructure and farmlands, and increased agricultural productivity, could be delayed, the AG Deodat Sharma commented in his report.