Farmers to reap big benefits from new water rate

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir says farmers are reporting they will save as much as $4,000 on their monthly water bills as a result of Government’s decision to let them access water at a discounted rate.

On Monday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced in her Budget speech that farmers registered with the Ministry of Agriculture will be able to access water at a rate of $1.80 per cubic metre, or 220 gallons.

While making his contribution to the debate in Parliament on the Appropriation Bill, 2022, on Tuesday, Weir said farmers have already been calculating the potential savings and indicated they are expecting to reap significant benefits from the special rate that takes effect on May 1.

“Some of the livestock farmers told me today that their savings are at a minimum of $500 to as high, in some instances, as $4 000 on their water bills. That is a revolution in this country because previously when I sat through all of those meetings, many days my heart was bleeding listening to these livestock farmers complaining about the high cost of doing business and at the same time not having enough financing available to them to be able to sustain it,” Weir told the House of Assembly.

“We have responded by making sure that every last one of them can address the high cost of water rates and they are now telling me that they are grateful to this Government for having the will. The consumer ultimately will benefit from all of this,” he added.

The Minister said that as Government continues to transform the agriculture sector so consumers have greater access to locally grown food, the country is embarking on an arrangement with Guyana to establish a food terminal at Lears, St Michael.

Weir said Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha will be coming to Barbados on March 18 to tour the proposed site.

“So, this Lears project that we are doing will now give us the chance, first of all, to bring close to 200 farmers into farming at Lears, 77 acres of land into crop production, and another 23 [acres] into Blackbelly sheep farming. At Lears, we are also going to be establishing, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, kiosks so that farmers can also do their vending.

“But there is also an agreement already with a fast food producer where a percentage of the food produced at Lears would also be going to that fast food outlet. And then crops coming off the Lears project will also be going to the food terminal where we can freeze, package, clean and even export to CARICOM, as the plan is to use Barbados as a hub,” Minister Weir added.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb