Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit believes that there must be a declaration by Caricom governments giving more forceful support to agriculture in order to help reverse the rising cost of living.
Skerrit told the media during a break in the Special Heads Meeting of the Caricom Heads of Govern-ment at the Guyana Interna-tional Convention Centre at Liliendaal yesterday that Caricom governments must show support for countries like Guyana, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines, that still had agricultural bases and had the capacity to produce on a large scale.
Caricom countries imported too many agricultural items from outside the Caribbean at the same time importing inflation, he said, adding that “many things we buy out of the region could be produced in the region if we are to assist each other in addressing the issue of increased technology, capital investment and importantly the issue of transportation.”
He said that transportation was a major concern and advoacted the need for two ocean going vessels to transport agricultural products throughout the region.
The governments, he said ought not to leave it to individual supermarkets or individuals.
In the region the talk was about the high cost of living, he continued, but much of it also had to do “with our own consumption practices of our people.”
If the region’s peoples supported the regional initiatives and opportunities available, “certainly we can move forward,” he said, stating that what Guyana needed was the technology and capital investment since the land and labour were already there.
Noting that Guyana had been offering large tracts of land for agriculture in the region, he said that the region should support Guyana by coming together to use the fertile land to produce and sell to regional markets.
There were a number of things that contributed to the high cost of living, some of which had to do with imported inflation that the region had no control over; however, on the things which there was control over, Skerrit said, “we have to work towards and put systems in place to address them.”
There was no necessity to import tomatoes and carrots from Miami when they could be grown locally, he went on, adding that tomatoes or dasheen from Dominica might be 25 cents more than if imported.
Produced and sold locally, he said, was ensuring that the money remained in the region with more resources made available to reduce the cost of living.
