THE EDITOR, Sir:
DR. ST. Aubyn Bartlett, JLP M.P. for Southeast St Andrew, last week issued a strongly worded warning to the government not to lift the ban on beef imports from the U.S. until the US Department of Agricul-ture provided adequate clearances regarding the status of the Mad Cow Disease outbreak in the States.
Dr. Bartlett's concern was not just for the livestock industry itself, but that the Jamaican public could face serious risk from contaminated beef imports the disease being fatal to human beings. He explained that the widespread use of beef suet in the patty industry would place thousands of the 'patty eating' public in danger of contracting the disease, since beef suet is a major repository of the 'Mad Cow' bacteria.
That warning was repeated in three news broadcasts which I heard on RJR between Wed-nesday 14th and Thursday 15th July but apparently went unheeded as the RJR late news at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday 15th July carried a single announcement from the Minister of Agriculture that government had lifted the ban on US beef imports with immediate effect.
DELIBERATELY SUPPRESSED
That announcement came only once and was not repeated thereafter nor was Dr. Bartlett's warning so it would appear that the matter has been deliberately suppressed taken off the air. And why not with the Denbigh Show on the horizon such an announcement would, understandably, be ill-timed.
What truly amazes me is the deafening silence from organisations like the Jamaica Livestock Association, the Jamaica Agri-cultural Society, and the Veteri-nary Association of Jamaica. Nor has the Ministry of Agriculture given the public (in particular the long-suffering beef farmers) the courtesy of an explanation, or some rationale for this decision. M.C. Disease is fatal to human beings and the matter should not be treated so lightly.
When the ban was imposed recently (I think last December - '03) beef farmers breathed a sigh of relief. Many of them were able to dispose of some animals and do some small pasture cleaning. Many had not sold a single animal in three or four years. One thing has never been explained. If there is no shortage of beef on the local market, and local supply not only satisfies but outstrips demand, what then is the justification for imports? Jamaica's once thriving beef industry has been totally destroyed by this importation policy.
WATCHED HELPLESSLY
Most beef farmers have watched helplessly, and in horror, from the sidelines while their once well kept pastures turned into ruin. Some animals died from malnutrition; farmers' earnings decreased and their lifestyles
deteriorated.
Some small beef farmers simply gave up the fight turned their animals on the streets thereby creating serious traffic problems. And now government is contemplating building a cattle pound in St. Elizabeth (where, apparently, the problem is severe) at a cost of some $3M to correct a problem they created in the first place. No money to subsidise the farmers but to build the pound. What lunacy shapes our policies.
But there is an explanation to which the public, and the beef farmers in particular, are entitled. It is this:
The Gleaner of February 5, 2000 quoted Mr. Errol Ennis, the then Minister of State for Finance, as saying:
"Prior to May 25, 1993 all local beef products were protected from beef imports from non-CARICOM countries by an average duty of 86 per cent. However, he noted, the duty was removed as a pre-condition to obtaining financing from the World Bank under the Private Sector Development Adjustment Loan Agreement between the Government and the Bank. Mr. Ennis explained that since the removal of the duty there had been significant increases in the volume of imports, which have caused serious dislocations within the local beef industry..."
WOEFUL MISMANAGEMENT
So there you have it! The government is stone broke and needs those funds. So our once thriving beef industry has been sacrificed on the altar of Dr. Davies' woeful mismanagement of the economy. That's the whole truth.
I am, etc.,
NORMA L. PERKINS
PO Box 9
Walkers Wood P.O.
