Yvonne Robertson, a Chateaubelair farmer, says that there are a lot of people with ID cards, and somehow they’re collecting money, and the people who come out in the rain, sun, and heat do not get any payment – “one of them is my husband.”
During a public consultation hosted by the ministry of agriculture at the Troumaca Government School on Tuesday afternoon, Robertson made the comment.
“I do not wish to be frightened or favoured for the sake of saying this. People who are farming are not getting the money – most of them, not everyone”, she said.
According to Robertson, for reasons unknown to her, her husband’s name is not on the list of farmers receiving farmers’ support. He is a very hard-working farmer, leaving early in the morning for his farm and returning late in the evening.
“And farmers money share, and people with nails, and toes, who drink rum, and others, they all collect 500 dollars,” she said.
Robertson reiterated that the farmers who use the hoe and cutlass, including those who leave early in the morning whether it’s raining or sunny, are not benefiting from the farmers’ support programme while those with long, decorated fingernails and toenails do.
“It’s hard, very hard. I need you to get people and sort out the list. The lists and dem need to sort out,” she said, receiving a round of applause”.
A visit to farms should be made to ascertain who is actually involved in farming, Robertson urged officials.
Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar responded to Robertson’s concern by noting that there are 10,200 farmers in this country, according to a list at the ministry.
“It appears that some people got ahead by farming very, very small areas. I believe that even some people who do a bit of gardening in their backyards took advantage of the opportunity to get a farmer’s ID because this ID is accepted by Western Union and MoneyGram,” Caesar said.
“I will advise the chief (agriculture officer) that we cannot take away the cards from the people, but next time when we have a distribution, we should distribute accordingly. If someone is doing more and has more lands, I think they should be compensated more for it,” Caesar said.
