Govt spite behind Caroni Green closure

“There are persons sitting in their offices in Port-of-Spain making decisions affecting people’s lives on matters for which they know nothing about,” Lalla charged. “If this is what passes as good governance in this country, then we are in a very bad way,” Lalla said, adding that at a time when the nation’s food import bill is well over a billion dollars, this government chooses to close down state entities that deal with growing food crops for both local use and export.

He said when Caroni Green was established in 2014, it used a $22M grant from the European Union (EU) to outfit it and since that time, has produced more than 1.25 million pounds of produce for the export market. Produce included hot peppers, pumpkins, paw paw, corn and tomatoes. Lalla said the revenue generated from exports went from $700,000 to $2.9 million, in three years.

Despite all of this, he added, government used the excuse that Caroni Green was a burden on tax payers and thus had to be shut down. Lalla said the company submitted audited reports annually showing its operating costs and earnings. He revealed that at the time this government decided to wind up Caroni Green, the company had more than $5 million in its account and this could have sustained workers until the end of the financial year.

Lalla said that ex-workers are in the process of forming an Agricultural Co-operative with the primary objective of preserving their livelihood.

“We want to ensure these workers’ livelihood and at the same time, contribute to the agricultural sector,” Lalla said, noting that while they respect government’s right as owner of the company to take whatever decision, they are equally confident of their ability to successfully manage two farms formerly under Caroni Green’s management, at Union East in Couva and one in Cunupia.

“We believe that the business strategy adopted by CGL of targeting export and import substitution, is a sound one and will provide great benefit to the local economy in terms of foreign exchange generation and conservation,” Lalla said.

Present at the press conference were former prime minister Basdeo Panday and Opposition MPs Rudy Indarsingh, Rushton Paray, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, Ramona Ramdial and Devant Maharaj, the latter being a former Agriculture Minister during the People’s Partnership