The Minister responsible for Agriculture, Mr. Curtis Richardson, has met with executive members of the Anguilla Farmers’ Association to hear some of their concerns and needs for assistance.
Those who met with the Minister, on January 24, included the President of the Association, Mr. Conrad Gumbs; the Secretary, Mr. Sinclair Buchanan; and the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Maxie Carty.
One of the concerns of the farmers is what is perceived as the high cost of the water they are using for irrigation purposes. A suggestion is that 10,000 gallons, at three cents a gallon, should be made available to them.
Mr. Richardson, who is also the Minister for Infrastructure, Communications and Public Utilities, told the Farmers’ Association that his Ministry “is looking at how close it can get to that request once the water supply reaches a 24/7 period.” He added: “We are about thirty days away from achieving the 24/7 system of running water. We are now checking for non-revenue water as 40 percent of the water is coming back in money, but the remaining 60 percent is leaking into the ground, going into illegal lines or somewhere else. So 60 percent of the water is not manifesting itself and so is not being accounted for and is lost.”
Mr. Carty, known for his candour, stated: “That’s easy to fix. Now, let us get to the point: We immediately want all farmers, even backyard farmers, to get 10,000 gallons of water because we want to teach people how to farm in tyres in rocky areas. And everybody who wants to grow our own food should use herbal treatment for farming – rather than chemicals which can kill you. All chemicals should be stopped from coming into the island because they are only creating havoc for our people. Everybody is winding up with cancer, and this and that, because of what is being eaten.”
He continued: “I said at a previous meeting that even our fish has to be considered because trailers of chemicals have been dumped in our waters, and a lot of people do not know about this.”
Minister Curtis Richardson noted that an agricultural policy was still being put into place and that a lot of details were not yet finalised. He said part of the policy related to how farmland in The Valley area would be parcelled out to various farmers – and that the importation of certain produce would be regulated in a manner to protect the interest of Anguillian farmers.
It was pointed out by the Minister, however, that a key element for consideration would be the ability of farmers to meet the volume requirements of consumers in such cases as tomatoes, other vegetables, eggs, etc.
