Gov’t ends funding for Paraquita Bay farmers—Hipolito D. Penn
He was speaking at the time, with Honestly Speaking’s, Mr Claude O. Skelton Cline, during the September 4, 2018, live radio broadcast.
Fire Ignited
The political hopeful was discussing some of the challenges facing the community, when he revealed that the VI government would no longer be funding farming in the community—something told to him by the incumbent representative, Dr the Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering.
Mr Penn told host and radio listeners, the agriculture industry in the district has died under the watch of Dr Pickering and his response was, “the government is not spending any more money in Paraquita Bay, because nothing is happening.”
These were among the reasons, Mr Penn highlighted, that “ignited a fire in me” to run for political office.
Mr Penn was adamant the threat to farming in the Paraquita Bay area, is a threat to the very livelihoods of the people who depend on the industry
His Mouth
Quizzed by host, Mr Skelton-Cline, in relation to the accusation being levelled against the Deputy Premier, Mr Penn doubled down and insisted Dr Pickering said government “aint spending any more money in agriculture in Paraquita Bay, nobody didn’t tell me that you know, this is what came from his mouth to my ears and those kinds a things lit the fire inside of me.”
Looking to give a voice to the affected farmers, Mr Penn said, “they ain’t giving up, against all of that, they ain’t giving up.”
The political hopeful looking to run against Dr Pickering in the Seventh District used the occasion to launch an assault against the Deputy Premier, saying come next elections he, “need to go home and sleep.”
He said Dr Pickering has over the course of his 20 years in office, lost the passion to work on behalf of the people and has instead adopted different interest groups.
Mr Penn—a former NDP supporter—confessed, “when I supported the Hon Kedrick Pickering, he had a passion, and I have seen that passion come out of his eyes…He no longer has that passion for his own people but he picked it up for someone else.”
He said, “we can’t go any further with the current representative.”
The political aspirant lashed out at Dr Pickering, saying he abandoned the people of the Seventh District, especially following the 2017 disasters.
“Anytime a boat is sinking, the Captain is last to get off,” according to Mr Penn, who lamented, “there is a crisis right now, we still in crisis mode…we are in a boat of crisis and the first person to get off of that boat was the same Hon Kedrick Pickering.”
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13 Responses to “Gov’t ends funding for Paraquita Bay farmers—Hipolito D. Penn ”
they have allowed Agriculture as a department and economic sector to die.
And they have no plans to turn it around.
How does government help farmers in Paraquita bay though and why would government spend money to assist a farmer. I would like to understand how and why this is done because, while agriculture is important, so is every other business. The most expensive food one can buy is local produce. I am really not getting it.
Increasing local food production reduces the food import bill; spending local creates a multiplier effect in the economy. Further, though local food production may not necessarily be less expensive than some imports, the food may be cheaper, source known......etc. The common belief is that local food should be cheaper than imported food. Well, not necessarily. It is a function of production cost. For example, the cost of Chiquita, a MNC, producing a pound of banana may be less than say a local farmer in Cane Garden area can do it for. Additionally, increasing local food production also enhances food security (the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food). Let’s us examine what would happen if the container ships cannot come for weeks, months......etc.