Bajan boycott causes veggie glut

EAT MORE vegetables! This is the call from the Supermarkets Association of TT (SATT) to the public to help reduce a glut of local produce resulting from reduced exports to Barbados. The ongoing fishing dispute between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, has resulted in the imposition of increased tariffs for TT products entering the Barbadian market. Several exotic vegetables previously exported to Barbados by TT farmers have been affected by these tariffs, and the SATT yesterday appealed to supermarkets and retail outlets to help absorb the excess agricultural products. These include pumpkins, hot peppers, pineapples, watermelons, tomatoes, cabbage, christophene, cauliflower, squash and citrus.

Doodnath Maharaj, Liaison Officer for SATT said TT exported at least 15 different agricultural products to Caribbean islands, including Barbados, St Lucia and Grenada. “What has happened with this dispute between the two countries is that the tariffs which have been instituted have resulted in produce, especially pumpkins and pineapples, piling up, so there is now a glut in the market.” He said local farmers exported more than 100,000 pounds of pumpkin a month and at least 5,000 to 6,000 pineapples a week. “With Caroni Ltd now shut down, these people need to earn a living and we feel they need the assistance of the retail outlets and the public who can buy the vegetables instead of allowing them to rot.” Maharaj said by buying the produce from the farmers and then selling them at a cheaper price, the retail outlets would help reduce the glut on the market. The public, however, had to be relied on to make more vegetable purchases.

“It is all a question of wasting food and we don’t see this as a positive step,” he said. CEO of the National Agricultural, Marketing and Development Company Limited (NAMDEVCO), Samaroo Dowlath, supported the SATT’s call for increased consumption of local produce, confirming that there was indeed a glut in the market in terms of certain vegetables, specifically tomatoes and cabbages, which are presently being sold at a low cost. However, he explained that this was not the result of the tariffs imposed by Barbados on local exporters, but rather because of over production.

He admitted that the dispute with Barbados had taken a toll on produce exports to that country, since it now took ten days to acquire the necessary licenses for export. “This is causing a hiccup in terms of our continuing ability to take goods from the local farms and send to Barbados,” he said. “We usually send at least 200,000 pounds of mixed fruits and vegetables per month. We would indeed like to see the public utilising much more.”