| Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud,Wholesale Jerseys, yesterday lashed out at the CARICOM Secretariat, noting that it is time to review how the Secretariat and its lead agencies coordinate agricultural development in order to enhance accountability.The Minister was at the time addressing the Twenty-Seventh Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture and Food Security at the Le Meridien, Pegasus yesterday.Criticising the secretariat’s sloth in implementing initiatives, the Minister said that several proposals were agreed on by the CARICOM Heads of Government during the 12th special meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community last December. He added that six months later many of those measures, which were decided upon, are yet to be implemented.These measures, he said, were meant to be instituted immediately to cushion the impact of rising food prices.They were also meant to ensure the adequate supply and distribution of food intra-regionally.While the problems associated with coordinating activities in a large number of countries is appreciated, Persaud added that there is need to look at the issue of ‘why it is that directives from the Heads of Government’ are not being implemented.“The CARICOM Secretariat needs to steer and lead this process and if it is unable to do this, perhaps it is time to review the mechanisms within the CARICOM Secretariat. The time has come for us to review how the Secretariat and its lead agencies coordinate agricultural development in order to enhance accountability and ensure that delays in operationalising policy directives do not continue,” Persaud stressed.It is clear, the Minister said, that the CARICOM Heads of Government, by their decisions, show that they understand the problems facing their constituents.Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, being very critical of the implementation process of the CARICOM Secretariat said, “I am not convinced that this understanding is shared by all the agencies and technicians tasked with carrying out these decisions. Some do not seem to comprehend the implications of their inaction on the welfare of the people of the region.”The global situation facing the Region has been referred to by many as an impending crisis.It is time, the Minister said, that heed is taken of this warning and start acting ‘quickly and effectively’ to ensure this crisis does not envelop the Caribbean.“The rapidly changing global environment requires an equally expressive response. As such,China NFL Jerseys, I would urge that we place serious emphasis on accelerating the initiatives already identified even as we search for new solutions for emerging problems,” the Minister stressed.Speaking briefly on the Common External Tariff (CET),Cheap Jerseys, the Minister said that this is also a means through which competitive industries can be developed in ensuring regional food security.He stressed that that there is need to guard against reducing tariffs to the point where its effectiveness may eroded.“We must bear in the mind the legitimate reasons for these tariffs. We should also see the CET as a means of boosting trade between our Member States. Waivers of the CET should only be granted in extreme cases,” Persaud said.Only recently Guyana and Jamaica were in a battle over the CET, after that island applied for a waiver in order that Jamaica can import rice from further a field.The matter was, however, settled at a bilateral level, following discussions between Guyana’s Head of State and Jamaica’s Prime Minister.Responding to Persaud, in his address at the opening ceremony, Jamaican Minister of Agriculture, Dr Christopher Tufton, who was chairman of the meeting, said that as Ministers of Agriculture,NFL Jerseys Cheap Authentic, there must be some concern that current attempts to address the crisis seem to be focusing more on trade related matters to augment supply of foods from extra regional sources, with not sufficient attention being paid to the urgent matter of building national capacities to produce more food and to produce it efficiently.“While we have a responsibility to provide food in the short term, we must not yield to the temptation of focusing on only trade related matters,” Dr. Tufton said.Dr. Tufton added that not only is food getting more expensive, but it is also becoming increasingly more expensive to produce.The region is particularly vulnerable because over the years, requisite attention was not paid to the agricultural sector, as we ought to, the Jamaican Minister said.“We run a serious risk of undervaluing the role and contribution of the agricultural sector as we look at its contribution solely from the perspective of its share of GDP.”Agriculture, he added, is indeed more than ‘food on the table’, and provides the basis for a manufacturing sector while it supports tourism,Stitched Jerseys, contributes to the transportation sector and is a significant driver of rural development.Taken within this wider context, there is no sector as critical as the agricultural sector, particularly at this point in time, Dr. Tufton added.“Our food health and safety infrastructure is not up to par, seriously constraining our ability to take part in international trade. As is well known, the poor transportation links among our territories render regional trade extremely expensive. We accept the Jagdeo Initiative as the framework within which these constraints must be addressed.”The current food crisis, he noted, must lend more impetus and urgency to the implementation of the various actions outlined.Within this context, he added, there is need to build the region’s research capacity as the driver of agricultural production and productivity.“We simply must find better ways and more efficient ways of growing crops and livestock to satisfy our food needs.”This special meeting on Agriculture and Food Security is a precursor to the Agriculture Investment Forum to be held in June. The meeting was held in light of the fact that, already, citizens in a number of countries have been protesting the rising prices of foods items, including those in Guyana, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago.Beginning today,Cheap Soccer Jerseys For Sale, the UN Human Rights Council has convened a special session in Geneva to focus on the food crisis, from the perspective of the serious erosion of people’s right to food.At the regional level, a high level meeting on food security in Latin America and the Caribbean will be convened in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 30 by the Latin America and Caribbean Economic System.(Tusika Martin) |
