The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet Minister yesterday said the packing house in Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, will be re-opening today.

Clay Sweeting, minister of agriculture, marine resources and Family Island affairs, told the weekly press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister: “Currently we are already taking steps to the goal for food security.

“On Friday, February 18, we will re-open the packing house at Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, as a staple in the Central Eleuthera community, which has been closed for four years. We are serious about investing in agriculture.

“The team at the ministry is creating an Agribusiness Centre at Hatchet Bay that will serve as a template for Family Island farming communities. This packing house will be a point of contact where farmers can access seeds, plants, fertilizers and get assistance with farm planning,” he added.

“By the end of the year, they will be able to process the excess food in our community kitchen. We want to end the practice of food waste.”

The packing house system has been run inefficiently for decades, with produce from the Family Islands left to rot and causing significant wastage. Inadequate quality control mechanisms have also been an issue.

Mr Sweeting said: “We look forward to not just enhancing farming, but to reviving the cottage industry and getting more locally-produced items on the shelves fresher and faster. The opening of this facility is expected to reignite farmers and engage them fully towards sustainable farming in the country.

“Additionally, we have completed the renovations at the packing house in Cat Island and, most recently, we moved a step closer in our goals by tabling and passing the BAMSI (Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute) legislation in parliament.”

He added: “We continue to invest in digitising our department so that all farmers around The Bahamas can have access to applications, no matter which Family Island they reside in.

“We are implementing a help desk to assist our elderly farmers especially. My ministry is hiring extension officers as we lay the framework for the agribusiness department. We are working aggressively towards implementing sanitary and phytosanitary measures as we move toward in setting the framework for our food security.”