Economic survival, Vincy style

Exotic flowers, asparagus, mushrooms and medicinal herbs are among the crops that the St Vincent government is looking to for its economic survival. Several projects aimed at diversifying the agricultural base away from the dependency on bananas are undergoing experiment at a Taiwanese farm on the island. With sugar cane gone, banana virtually “dead” (killed by cheaper products coming out of Central America) and coconut estates abandoned and lying waste, the island is not leaving its agricultural diversification programme to chance.

Both the agriculture and tourism ministries  are working together to incorporate the use of indigenous foods like breadfruit and banana into the tourism sector and to encourage Vincentians to consume more local food as well. The arrowroot crop may also see a rejuvenation as reports are that it may be useful in the making of computer paper. The island is also aggressively carrying out its programme to boost the tourism sector, but Minister of Tourism Rene Baptiste said the drive to attract more tourists was being approached with caution.

She pointed out that while there were available areas marked for development and investors were welcome, the government was very particular about the type of development it wanted and was aiming for a balance between the ecology and environment. “We do not want tourism to overwhelm the country, that is you have more tourists than you have people. At the same time you would like to have a product that people can enjoy, that is not trampled upon or overused so then it becomes something you don’t want to see anymore,” Baptiste said. “We are being very careful in the way that we balance the ecology the environment  and the human resources that are available.”

Construction of additional hotel rooms are also in the works and the 1844 hotel rooms now available will increased with the construction of an 800-room “strictly upscale” hotel beginning in May. New and upgraded airport facilities are also in the works with plans to build an international airport at Argyle and the unpgrading of the ET Joshua Airport at Arnos Vale. A National Investment Promotions company has been set up to look  after maximising the available tourism development sites  at Buccament, North Union, Orange Hill  and Turament. A marine tourism policy has been passed and a National Parks Act making way for the National Parks and Beaches Authority to be operating by year’s end. The dive and the yatching sectors which are also important to the island will soon see more enthusiasts coming to the island through the renewed air connection from San Juan, Puerto Rico to St Vincent.

The service was launched last week by Caribbean Sun airline with four flights weekly. Baptiste hailed this as a “miracle” because yatchies will now be able to fly down to the island, spend a fews days at the hotels before they go sailing.  More focus will also be placed on eco-tourism, she said shortly after the inaugural flight touched down. “Very soon we will be saying this is the eco-system to visit. We are going to do cross country roads which will open up some more trails across the country. It’s going to be very intriguing to be here an there will be lots more for people to do.”