Hutchinson pledges drought mitigation allocation to Flagaman farmers

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), Hon. J.C. Hutchinson has pledged an allocation of approximately $500,000 to assist farmers of Flagaman St. Elizabeth whose crops were destroyed by fire last Friday (August 16).

The money was originally provided for his St. Elizabeth North Western constituency but will now go to the farmers of Flagaman as part of the recovery effort.

Mr. Hutchinson made the commitment on August 20 when he, along with Minister of State in the MICAF, Hon Floyd Green, who is also Member of Parliament for Southwest St Elizabeth and representatives from the Ministry, the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and other agencies, toured the farms burnt out by the fire.

The Minister explained that in contrast to the drought conditions prevailing in the southern belt of the parish, the northern section, including his Northwest constituency was receiving adequate rainfall and was therefore in a position to donate the funds allocated to him by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation’s Drought Mitigation Programme.

Describing the damage done to the farms as devastating, Minister Hutchinson noted that some 47 farmers with a total of some 200 acres were impacted, with losses estimated preliminarily at some $45 million.

Minister Hutchinson further pointed out that the first order of business in assisting the affected farmers to resuscitate their farms was the provision of mulch to aid the replanting process.

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