THE EDITOR Sir,
IT WAS with great disappointment that I read in your paper of December 29, 2003, that our Minister of Agriculture, along with a group of beef importers, are trying to source beef from New Zealand and Australia as a result of the ban placed on imported beef from the U.S.A. and Canada due to Mad Cow disease.
Sadly, no mention is made of resuscitating the Jamaican beef industry.
Over the last seven years, the policies of the Ministry of Agriculture have reduced the Jamaican cattle herd from nearly 500,000 head to just under 50,000 today. Numerous meetings have been held over the past few years between Mr. Roger Clarke, the Minister of Agriculture, and cattle farmers, represented by the Jamaica Livestock Association. Nothing has been achieved as the Minister seems unable to act.
It is ironic that just last year September, a delegation of New Zealand and Australian cattle farmers visited Jamaica with the intention of purchasing a quantity of Jamaican Red Poll cattle to take back to their respective countries to improve their genetics.
The policies of our Ministry of Agriculture have resulted in the near-death of our cattle industry in favour of imported beef. How can we call ourselves independent if we rely on the rest of the world to feed us while thousands of acres of land remain idle?
I am, etc.,
MARTIN HOPWOOD
bengal@mail.infochan.com
Rio Bueno P.O.
Trelawny
Via Go-Jamaica
