Minister of Food Production, Land and Marine Affairs Vasant Bharath has said his resignation over the farmers' dispute is the Prime Minister's call. Bharath said he had not been, nor did he expect to be reprimanded for the position he took to support aggrieved farmers. He said Opposition calls for his resignation over the issue, was clearly a decision which rested in the hands of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
"That (my resignation) is the prerogative of the Prime Minister and I do not think Mr Hinds has reached there yet," he said. Bharath was speaking with reporters yesterday at the opening ceremony of a public lecture and activity week, hosted by the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
It was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain, and had as its feature speaker, the interim director, School of Agriculture at the University of the West Indies (St Augustine Campus), Dr Chelston Brathwaite.
At a press conference last Monday, Opposition Senator Fitzgerald Hinds said Bharath had breached the ambits of "collective responsibility" when both he and Minister of Housing Dr Roodal Moonilal (both Cabinet members) appeared to be in disagreement with each other on the issue of land allocation. Chaguanas and D'Abadie farmers have been irate since Easter Monday when acres of their crops were bulldozed by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to make way for the construction of houses.
When asked if he (Bharath) was reprimanded by Persad-Bissessar last week for being in solidarity with the farmers over their land issue, Bharath said such had not yet occurred and he did not anticipate such action.
"No I haven't... my job is to produce more food so I really don't expect to be." Bharath said he was optimistic about meeting farmers today and was "hopeful it will be to the benefit of all concerned" since the meeting was geared towards "settling the problem." He added: "Clearly we cannot allow the issue to continue in its current state so we have got to try to make sure we sit down around a table and talk about it."
He said while the Government's current offer to farmers was that they be compensated for their crops and be offered the opportunity to relocate, he had not yet had the opportunity to meet with Moonilal. He added: "Dr Moonilal and I have not sat down and had any further discussions since last Thursday and I think you all know what is on the table as far as the Government is concerned. "I will obviously need to speak with him before we meet with the farmers tomorrow to see if there is any change in our position. "What we are all saying collectively is that we must have developmental goals of housing together and balanced with food production. It is not a question of competing interests, it is simply that we must manage both.
"One of the policies we have talked about that will allow us to see this matter through very clearly is a land development plan, how we plan the development areas in T&T for housing and for agriculture," he added. He said he already had discussed the land use policy with senior staff within his ministry and was hoping to "shortcut a few circuits" so that he "could bring a note to Cabinet, maybe within two to three weeks."