The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FARMERS yesterday defended their request for $60 million in government assistance, saying: "We're not lazy people waiting for money to drop into our lap".

Caron Shepherd, president of the Farmers United Association (FUA), the body that sought the now-controversial Monday meeting with the Prime Minister, told Tribune Business that her members are "up in arms" because they believe their plight is being ignored.

Despite the Minister of Agriculture branding the Association's subsidy request as "astronomical", and unjustified, Ms Shepherd said it was "not asking for the world" but only sufficient resources for the sector to fully recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Matthew.

While the salt water intrusion from Matthew's storm surge was only now dissipating, thereby allowing farmers to start planting again, the FUA president said the loss of fencing and other security equipment meant many were still being hammered by crop and livestock thefts.

"Nothing has changed significantly since Matthew," Ms Shepherd told Tribune Business, "and that is why the farmers are still up in arms, because we have been put on the back burner.

"Every time, everybody else is more important than the farmers. We're trying to share with the Government, through the Minister, the importance of getting the farmers back on track."

The Association, which has around 100 members, first submitted its proposed Matthew recovery plan to then-minister of agriculture and fisheries, V Alfred Gray, via a March 27, 2017, letter.

It requested government financial assistance amounting to $30,000 per acre of farm land. And, estimating that there were around 2,000 acres of land on New Providence currently being used for agriculture, the FUA said this equated to a total $60 million subsidy.

Mr Gray's response was that it represented a "long-term" vision requiring Cabinet approval, which was not forthcoming before the May 10 general election. The Association then sought to pick up where it had left off with Mr Gray's successor, Renward Wells, engaging him soon after the Minnis administration took office in May 2017. Despite meetings extending over several months, Ms Shepherd said the Association and its members grew frustrated over the vague responses and lack of detail she alleged was forthcoming from the Ministry of Agriculture.

"The response was: 'We're working on it, we're working on it'," she recalled. Ms Shepherd said the Ministry last September proposed providing farmers with lumber and fencing, plus a cash payment where the sum was linked to the size of the farm involved. An additional cash allocation was also offered to allow farmers to replenish crops or livestock.

"It was never put in writing, and nothing was submitted," the Association president added. "It was talk, talk, talk, but nothing came of it. October came, November came and nothing came of it."

This built up the pressure for Monday's 'non-meeting' with Dr Hubert Minnis, and Ms Shepherd said it was intended to give the Prime Minister insight into just how badly many Bahamian farmers are "hurting" given that they lack the finances and/or insurance to rebuild their facilities and replace crops/livestock lost to Matthew.

"The farmers want to produce more crops and give much more than they're doing now," she told Tribune Business. "It's not like we have a bunch of lazy people waiting for money to drop into their lap.

"They want to produce the food. We have people complaining about imports. They're aggressively trying to put their farms in shape to produce the food."

Ms Shepherd added that many Bahamian farmers were only "now starting to come back" some 16 months after Hurricane Matthew hit this nation. "We had a lot of salt water intrusion into the soil, which meant plants couldn't grow properly," she added. "It's only now that the salt water is dissipating, so farmers can grow crops and plants without them dying."

Post-Matthew recovery efforts, though, have also been hit "by a lot of pilferage", with Ms Shepherd recalling how one farmer lost all her coconut trees to thieves who dug them up during the night. And, with fencing lost to the storm and never replaced, another farmer lost all his baby pigs one night, with the thieves returning - and taking - the rest the following day.

Ms Shepherd added that the Government's failure to provide the requested assistance also meant farmers who grew native fruits, such as sugar apple, sour sop and guava, were between 12 to 18 months behind in the production cycle.

"We were hoping by September/October last year to receive funding to put the fruit trees back," she explained. "We're a year behind. If we get money now, we have to wait 18 months for the trees to produce fruit. We're a year-and-a-half behind with fruit. We were hoping to have those already in the ground so they would start to bear fruit this year or early next year."

Ms Shepherd again argued that the multi-million annual taxpayer subsidies provided to the Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) would have been better spent assisting Bahamian farmers.

And she revealed that the Association had adjusted its assistance proposal to suggest that the Government mandate foreign investors, via their Heads of Agreement, to purchase specific foods from certain Bahamian farmers as a way to reduce reliance on the Public Treasury. "There's more than one way to do this," she suggested.

Addressing Dr Minnis directly, Ms Shepherd said: "This is going on and frustrating the farmers. We need you to hear what's going on. Some are doing well and have other businesses to subsidise their farms, and they are taking from Peter to pay Paul.

"These are some of the things that need to be looked at and addressed. Some of the farmers with one revenue stream, it's really difficult for them. Just help the farmers to do what they need to do to get on their feet, and they will be able to make it. They are aggressively going out there to do what they can do. They are not waiting for money to come into their lap.

"I have a passion for it; to get the members back on track. We're making strides, but it's just the assistance we need to make better strides and produce what we can. We aren't looking for the world. It's only because we got knocked down by Hurricane Matthew, and don't have the resources coming in; that's the only reason we're asking for help. That's all. Right now, the farmers need the help."

Explaining how Monday's controversy occurred, Ms Shepherd said she and the Association were finally given that date, and the 3.45pm time, from Ms Marsh in the Prime Minister's Office last week.

But, when she and the members arrived, Ms Marsh apologised and said the meeting was cancelled. She added that she had been trying to notify Ms Shepherd of this since last Friday, but the latter said she never received the call despite her phone being on constantly.

"As far as I'm concerned the meeting was not cancelled last Friday; it was cancelled at 3.45pm on Monday, and they're now trying to put out the fire," the Association president said. Social media postings purported to show Dr Minnis ducking the farmers and exiting the Prime Minister's Office by a side door.

She added: "I'm not a stranger to him. I'm not a stranger to the FNM. I ran in the 2012 election and was head of the party's women's association twice. He was also doctor to my children."

Ms Shepherd added that Jack Thompson, the Prime Minister's permanent secretary, had said he would seek to rearrange the meeting at a date yet to be confirmed.