Wednesday, March 6 2013

GOVERNMENT is “headed in the right direction” when it comes to reducing the estimated $4 billion annual food import bill, Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie yesterday declared, as he referred to statistics revealed in the ministry’s first Annual Report on Performance (ARP) for the fiscal year October 1, 2011 — September 30, 2012.

“Food security is a very important plank of our governance policy. In the Report on Performance for 2012 indicates there have been gains in the following areas in the food sector. Food inflation (which) has a major effect on the general rate of inflation... has gone down from 29.5 percent to 22 percent,” Tewarie stated.

He also noted an increase in the agricultural sector’s labour force and a decrease in the food import bill, both of which he said were welcomed. “Labour in this sector is up by 0.1 percent. It’s a minuscule amount, but it represents about 700 - 800 workers. And the food import bill has gone down, not as much as we had hoped, but it has gone down by $100 million.” Tewarie expressed confidence of further “good news” when the 2013 - 2013 ARP comes out.

“We are headed in the right direction and...I think when we do the next report, we will register some further progress because the (mega) farm production strategies that are being deployed now will begin to ‘reflect’ themselves in the system.”

The Planning Minister was speaking yesterday during a press conference held at his ministry’s head office, Eric Williams Financial Complex, Port-of-Spain, to mark Government’s official receipt of the final tranche of the Development Assistance Grant from the European Union (EU) — € 9.8 million (TT $80.4 million).

The money is being used for the National Adaptation Strategy for the Sugar Industry, following the closure of Caroni 1975 Limited in 2003.