Time to cut food import bill: Senator

One Independent Senator is urging the Freundel Stuart administration to do what it can to cut this island’s food import bill.

Joining Wednesday’s debate on the Offshore Petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Upper House, Senator John Watson insisted that with both oil and food imports costing this country millions each year, it was necessary to reduce these, but pointed out it would be easier to deal with slashing the food bill than that for oil at this time.

“I believe that if we look at the two areas of imports, oil imports and food, I believe that we should make a concerted effort at this time to reduce our food bill, even along with the work towards getting the offshore drilling going,” he stressed.

Speaking on the acres of idle land available around the country, he stated that these could be utilised to grow more crops towards this aim with young people paving the way, while noting that land owners be compensated, not due to acquisitions, but for land use. “I want to suggest that we look at really doing something about our waste land. I have made the suggestion in this chamber already that government has to do what is best for this country and if it is necessary to take over lands that are idle and make sure that those owners of that land are properly compensated, not necessarily in terms of purchasing the land, but the use of the land,” Watson said.

Suggesting that several programmes be introduced to push young people’s investment in the sector of agriculture, he stated that with a half acre of land, substantial crops could be produced.