Ministry of Agriculture to Invest in New Abattoirs to Strengthen Local Meat Production

What Antigua desperately needs is a government-operated plant to produce growing mediums for home gardeners. Too many of us are struggling to produce fruits and vegetables of a viable quality in our backyards. One truckload of a rich, balanced growing medium could change the dynamic of home-gardening. Just saying…

Keep up the fine work, Hon. Sir! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Will these abattoirs be up and running before the end of the year?

Anything that helps reduce our food import bill is a win in my book.

Please make sure this project includes some proper training for workers too.

Our journalists need to get it right and especially in this case.
There is absolutely nothing honorable about Anthony Babyface Judas Smith.
Hence the reason we need proper and correct way of addressing ALL parliamentarians.
Then again this portal doesn’t follow any journalistic principles.
Honorable is not the person.
It is the office that is honorable.
So instead of writing HONOURABLE ANTHONY BABYFACE JUDAS SMITH Minister of Agriculture we should write HONOURABLE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE Anthony Babyface Judas Smith.
Our journalists owe it to the people to educate them.
Our politicians owe it to the people to educate them.
This is the reason why we need to have civic taught in the classes.

What ever you are if you read the last the budget cycles for the past decade you will find this same comment statement over and over. In fact the government actually said that they bought the necessary equipment/ paid for with tax payers money. Up to now they have not showed up .
Please try and find some useful work to do.

Same old rhetoric every time and then they can’t account for the funds and or the equipment. I suppose this move is to facilitate the Money-Hawk. If he’s not already rearing hogs, I’m putting out a challenge that he’s definitely going to do so. Some of his gang members are gearing up too.

I really did not want to comment here on this topic. Because I really do not see eye to eye with the government on this. We have criticize the UPP for bailing out bankrupt local businesses like Food City. And we end uo doing the same thing. First we did this with Delux Cinema and now with Kennedy’s Enterprises. Oh yes I forgot we also bailed out ABI Bank. It is sad to see when our local businesses fail. The way I see it they start running before they even have learned to walk. It was not neccessary for the Francis Family to acquire the TCM business. The same way it was not neccessary for AABI Bank to get into realestate business and acquire Jolly Beach. The Winters should never had acquired Dews Supermarket. And then we have the Joseph’s. They had Bargain Centre Hardware and Supermarket and ventured into hotel and realestate. When you are in business and grewing you need to monitor Cashflows. CMC in my opinion will be making a very big mistake when they purchase these delapidated properties from the Kennedy Group. They will have to put lots if Cash Flow into renovation and rebuilding and then into furnishing. Presently they are trusting on the income from the wholesale, which is a DUTY FREE and ABST FREE operation. And the only ones winning are the restaurants and hotels that are purchasing these goods without having to pay ABST and DUTY. So infact it is the government that suffers. I question the legallity of this business model. And I am waiting to see which businessman/woman will be the first to take the government to court for unfair compitition. And demand compensation. It’s just a matter of time. What is CMC’s mandate? One should read the Act and see that certainly it was not about importing food product duty free. But to import farmers import duty free so that farmers could purchase these inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and other farm supplies. And to assist the farmers in the marketing effort of their produce. Anyone visiting CMC would not see much local farmers produce on the shelves or in the coolers. The farmers are next door on the market, selling their own produce. What CMC can now assist formars with is with Agro Processing. Many farmers do not have the capital to purchase these equipment. Machines such as dryers, sealers and other processing machines for small businesses, CMC should purchase and rent them out to farmers. Even cold storage with he helpfull to rent to farmers to keep their produce longer. I remember one year farmer Purcell had so much onions he had no place to store them or to process them. CMC should invest in those storage facilities and machinery for processing. As I already mentioned dryers and others. You could have large juice makers for farmers that want to venture into juice processing. E.g. we see many making Cane Juice at the side of the road. CMC could invest in juice making machines and rent these out. Many are into production of local juices. CMC could invest into bottling machines for juices. Coconut pealer machines and coconut water bottling machines. I mean I go into the supermarket and see coconut water being imported from Guyana and Jamaica and Trinidad. It doesn’t have to be so. CMC should assist the small agro processors with the nececary equipement. Casava pealer machines. We can pack Casava and freeze them and have the properly and expertly packed. That is how CMC can help the farmers. Not by importing more meat and produce and sell this to the restaurants and hotels, who by the way do not reduce their prices on the menu. And the only loser is the government that has not collected their ABST or Duties. I can only sigh and shake my head. Someone had a good idea. At least that is what he thinks. Question? Would you put your money in the venture like it is Mr. Minister. If your answer is NO, then why put tax payers money in it.