By Gareth Davis, Gleaner WriterPORTLAND:
T HE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Commission has donated 1,700 tonnes of agro-chemicals and fertilisers, two mini excavators, a back hoe and four vehicles to the Ministry of Agriculture, Boundbrook Wharf in Portland.
The items valued at $71.6 million will assist farmers under the EU Banana Support Programme which was established in 1996, to boost the local industry.
Gerd Jarchow, head of the EU delegation in Jamaica, said that within the last eight years the EU has contributed more than $2 billion to the country. And according to him, "the EU today remains as strong as ever in its commitment to the Jamaican banana industry."
Noting that the programme was aimed at positioning Jamaica's banana industry to compete in a liberalised market, he said that the physical infrastructure of local farms must be upgraded to achieve global efficiency.
Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke said the EU has made meaningful contributions to the local industry.
The EU had also donated more than J$32 million to refurbish the Boundbrook Wharf in the early 1990s. The remaining cost for infrastructural development, which amounted to J$53 million, was financed through a joint venture between the Port Authority of Jamaica and the Banana Export Company Limited.
