TT’s untapped medical treasure — plants

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO’S plants could have great medical and economic value to the nation and this potential must be fully explored. This was the view expressed yesterday by Public Utilities and Environment Minister, Pennelope Beckles, when she addressed the launch of Mega Insurance Company Ltd’s 2004 hanging calendar at the Cascadia Hotel. “The harvesting of medicinal plants worldwide is a billion dollar industry. I am sure that this is an area, if fully explored in TT, could be a great source of revenue and employment for our citizens,” Beckles told her audience. The minister noted that on another level, “the future doctors and herbal practitioners of our country would be able to conduct research on our local plants so that they too can discover new uses for them.”

Beckles reiterated that as Government strives to transform TT into a developed nation by 2020, it was cognisant that national development must be pursued in a sustainable manner. “At the core of this philosophy is the fact that our natural heritage is a precious resource to be invested in, for the present and also the future,” she declared. The minister added that Government “is ensuring that environmental issues are given high priority in its policy-making and implementation of decisions.” Beckles said within the next two weeks, her Ministry together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Marine Resources will be launching the National Reforestation and Watershed Programme. The minister said that programme’s goal was to arrest the decline of TT’s forests and deterioration of TT’s watersheds and by extension, preserve the nation’s plant life. Addressing the post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall last Friday, Beckles said Cabinet had allocated $50 million towards this programme.