Speech delivered by EU Ambassador to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS, and CARICOM/CARIFORUM at the inauguration of the Montreal Greenhouse Park in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on 25 June 2018.
Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonzalves,
Honourable Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonzalves
Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Caesar Saboto,
(Honourable Ministers)
Your Excellencies the Ambassadors of Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom High Commissioner,
The National Authorising Officer,
Private sector representatives,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen
I must say that, if as Ambassadors we have quite often the chance and pleasure to be in such good company, it is usually between the four walls of some official building, ……
But being here today, in the same excellent company and in the middle of the blooming nature, ready to launch this Greenhouse Park that is nothing less than a concrete result of the fruitful collaboration between the European Union and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, gives an extra meaningful dimension to our mission here.
Many of you know the Banana Accompanying Measures, more often called the "BAM", as an EU-SVG programme that has complemented our bilateral cooperation during the last 10 years. Many of you have seen the feeder roads and the agricultural infrastructure that are now in place thanks to this programme.
What you might not know is that originally, the BAM came about as a result of the Geneva Agreement in 2009, which settled the dispute between the European Union and banana producers in Latin America – and resulted in a reduction in tariffs from EUR 176 per tonne to EUR 114 per tonne, and eroding the export market of the ACP producers. It amounted to EURO 190 million and was meant to support the African, Caribbean and Pacific banana producers to cope with the new challenges deriving from this Agreement. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have benefitted of EUR 10 million (9.93) under this programme.
Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am proud to see that today the BAM is a diverse, dynamic and integrated programme that goes far beyond the purely compensatory action that it meant to be at the beginning.
And this is thanks to you: communities and authorities have come together to define the best way this programme could help both the population at grass roots and the country's economy at macro level.
What you can see here is not only some buildings and greenhouses; it is the concrete representation of your own vision of reviving the Vincentian agriculture, of making it competitive, sustainable and able to satisfy the internal demand from local production and supply.
What we launch today together, Honourable Prime Minister, is a humble step forward towards this vision: very soon the greenhouses will be all covered, quality soil will be brought from the most fertile parts of the island and the solar panels – that are now on their way from Germany – will be installed.
This will make the Montreal Greenhouse Park fully operational and ready to serve the scope it was meant to: produce high quality seedlings and vegetables that will eventually, hopefully, succeed in satisfying the internal demand and to even go beyond that – like for instance supplying the cruise industry and completing the agricultural value chain through processing and commercialising national food products.
A greenhouse park provides only the opportunity to meet the quantity and the quality requirements of the markets. The rest will be done through hard work from the communities, through thorough planning and adequate support from the government and through investment and involvement of the private sector.
I do not need to stress the fact that agriculture is a primordial sector for a country. But I do want to point out that agriculture is also just as risky a business as it can be profitable. In a region where the weather is not always the farmer's best ally, it is important to take the necessary precautions to make it as safe as possible: careful planning, respect of the building codes and other disaster risk reduction measures, insurance packages – are only a few of the necessary ingredients.
The European Union and its Member States – and please allow me to recognise here the presence of my friends and colleagues the Ambassadors of Belgium, France, Germany and the UK High Commissioner, are committed to support St. Vincent and the Grenadines way beyond the BAM – which will already end by next year.
An EUR 6 million comprehensive programme on Road Management and Rural Road Improvement will soon start in the country, founded by the EU and implemented by the Caribbean Development Bank – aiming both to support the agricultural sector through increased access and quality of feeder roads, and the transport sector in general by focusing on resilient and climate-proof road infrastructure.
This brings up the amount of bilateral cooperation between EU and SVG to around EUR 33 million during the last 10 years, cooperation focusing on key strategic sectors of the country like agriculture, infrastructure and health. In this line, I am happy to see that most of the activities under the 10th EDF, focusing on health infrastructure, are completed. Soon, public health facilities like the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, the Mental Health Centre or the Buccament and Mesopotamia ("Mespo") Polyclinics (we have passed by this last one on our way here), that were renovated or fully constructed and equipped under the EU-SVG cooperation – will be ready to provide high quality services to the Vincentian population.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is also part of various programmes we are now preparing for, or already implementing in the Caribbean region, aiming to strengthen the capacity of regional organisations and of their member states to cope with and adapt to climate change impacts and to increase the overall resilience of the communities and infrastructures The Global Climate Change Alliance and the ACP-EU Natural Disaster Risk Management in the CARIFORUM Region are only two examples.
It is also part of ongoing regional projects aiming to preserve human rights, to strengthen civil society and to increase security in the region – like for instance the cooperation with the CARICOM Secretariat on the Drug Demand Reduction Programme.
We are overall very happy of the results of our cooperation in its both dimensions - bilateral and regional, and we can assure you that this cooperation will continue well after the BAM and after the 11th EDF.
To conclude, I would like to thank
• both the Vincentian local communities and authorities for making this project possible,
• to the Honourable Ministers Camillo Gonsalves and Caesar Saboto for their support and for believing in this programme,
• to Ms. Laura Anthony-Browne, who was the National Authorising Officer for 19 years before retiring a few days ago and to her team,
• To Mr. Hutchinson and his company for the excellent and timely work done,
• And, last but not least, to all those (farmers, civil servants and private actors) that will shortly bring to life this facility!
Excellencies, if you allow me, I would add one more thing:
It is imperative to be ambitious in this endeavour: producing locally, especially through sustainable agriculture, is one of the best ways to reduce imports - which often translate into high costs and high emissions, and thus fight with local means and answers against global challenges.
Thank you!
Disclaimer
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
Barbados News