The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday said the government will this month release some $1.2m to deal with farmers’ “emergency needs” some four months after Hurricane Dorian’s passage.

Michael Pintard, minister of agriculture and marine resources, told Tribune Business: “We have allocated $1.2m to deal with some of the emergency needs that the farmers have, and we expect in January to be mobilising those resources to assist a number of farmers.

“We have also gotten commitments of funding from some international organisations directly for the agricultural sector, and we expect that those funds would have been wired over the course of he Christmas holidays, so this month we will verify that and those funds will also be disbursed to help farmers.”

Mr Pintard added: “For some farmers, their issue is if they are to rebuild, they need collateral in order to attract resources. So the ministry is minded to support a number of these farmers, including Big Bird in Abaco, in terms of trying to assist them get their crown grant for the land that they have occupied for more than the required period when one is eligible to apply for a crown grant.

“They are an extremely important part of our agricultural eco-system, being the largest poultry producer in The Bahamas. And, of course, they also have a vibrant agricultural component to their operation as well.”

Lance Pinder, chief executive officer of Abaco Big Bird Poultry farm, told Tribune Business last year that the farm’s 21-year lease had ended more than three years ago, and that it had been trying to get the government to convey the land to them without success. He added that they needed to obtain ownership of the land so it could be pledged as security for the financing required to help restart operations following Dorian.

Mr Pintard, meanwhile, added yesterday: “This month we are setting up an aquaponics operation attached to a number of our schools in Grand Bahama. We are looking to roll out both a boutique egg production and aquaponics in Abaco, so we have several things that will come on stream.”

He added that the government was co-operating on initiatives with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA).These involve placing green houses and shade houses on Abaco and Grand Bahama to assist with establishing hydroponics operations.

“Aquaponics and hydroponics in the first quarter of this year are going to be two very important parts of our responses to this disaster. Again, it is climate smart technologies being used to help revitalise the agricultural sector,” Mr Pintard said.

He added that post-Dorian assessments confirmed “the level of damage exceeds $50m, both to the fisheries and agricultural sector.” Mr Pintard continued: “While we were conducting the more in-depth assessment, we have worked with regional groups to immediately get some input directly to farmers; seeds being the dominant one, other things that assist with the soil mix, and items that would allow farmers to immediately resume some degree of cultivation.

“We have also been quite busy in the fisheries sector, working with groups that have an interest in helping fishers return to normal. One group out of the United States, who are friends of Sweetings Cay, worked very closely with the ministry as well as the MP for east Grand Bahama in making donations of three vessels to assist fishers.”