Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said yesterday Government would distribute 3,000 housing lots to former Caroni workers by the end of August. He also said Government had begun the official distribution of leases to former Caroni workers as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had distributed some 1,200 lots so far. The minister was speaking at yesterday's agro-opportunities breakfast meeting, hosted by the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce at Super Industrial Services, Couva.
He also noted his ministry was in the process of upgrading 16 fish-landing sites across T&T.
The sites would include basic amenities, such as storage rooms, lockers, electricity, water, toilet and bathroom facilities. The minister said the recent published decline in inflation from 9.4 per cent in March to 6.4 per cent in April "certainly augers well for future development of the (agricultural) sector."
He said that was in keeping with the ministry's five- pronged mandate for sector development, namely to:
• Reduce the food import bill;
• further reduce inflation, primarily driven by food prices;
• create sustainable, long-term, productive employment;
• contribute to the diversification of the economy; and,
• Increase the country's food security
He said the Government had made, and continued to make, agriculture a top priority in national development.