Close-down approach taken to national level

The Prime Minister pivoted the argument to close Caroni Green on the points that the company was competing with the private sector and was making a loss.

One wonders if the Prime Minister will take the same logic and apply it to CNMG, which also competes with private media houses and operates at a loss and costs taxpayers millions of dollars annually.

Similarly, Caribbean Airlines Ltd, Petrotrin, the Public Transport Service Corporation, National Petroleum and several other State companies cost taxpayers millions and compete unsuccessfully with the private sector. Or does the Prime Minister’s economic logic only apply to the agriculture sector, located primarily in the areas where the Opposition support is strong? In his post-Cabinet briefing, Rowley made several allegations about the operations of Caroni Green which were simply false.

And if those statements were the basis for the decision to close Caroni Green then clearly the decision was a bad one.

From the onset it was clear the Prime Minister did not know about Caroni Green when he called it a pepper company competing with the private sector.

Caroni Green has been involved in the development of several crops including papaya, plantain etc. It has been facilitating import substitution of peppers successfully, creating a cadre of small entrepreneurs who can have a reliable supply of peppers and have a sustainable business.

Rowley stated that Caroni Green costs the taxpayers money annually, with operating costs being $6 million and revenue only $700,000. The start-up costs included land and road development as well as repayment to a foreign investor as a result of government reneging on a substantial investment in the agricultural sector.

In fact, when Caroni Green was started in 2014, a seed capital was advanced to the company via an EU grant. Since then no money has been given to the company by the Government. In fact, in 2016 Caroni Green showed a profit.

The Prime Minister asserted that only a handful of workers will be affected (aka lose their jobs) but in fact there will be close to 100 people (20 administative staff and 80 daily-paid labourers) on the breadline as a result of this decision.

When Rowley served as Minister of Agriculture his tenure was distinguished with the closure of many institutions of that ministry.

Now as Prime Minister the closedown approach is being applied at a national level.

Devant Maharaj via email