The prime Minister's Labour Day address to the residents of Top Alston in northwest Clarendon must have thrilled the listeners when they heard about the Belgians using imported coffee from Jamaica and Africa to create a unique blend of chocolate that is world-class.

However, as he continued, the smiles might have turned to groans when the PM said, " ... They make a whole heap of money off it, and we who are selling them the cocoa to help them do it ... are not making nowhere near that kind of money."

Should not surprise PM

This should not be a surprise to the prime minister or his audience. What the Belgians are doing demonstrates in the most concrete way the path that agriculture must take if farming is to become profitable. It is time that our small farmers be encouraged to use their initiative in setting up their own micro-enterprise, while the Government assists them with the technical support needed for these little farms to become viable entities of a larger cooperative industry.

It is understandable that the politicians stay aside and gripe about the financial rewards that are derived from the Belgian enterprise, but this is the way that the free market system works. The most enterprising people will make the most money.

I am, etc.,

GLENFORD GEORGE WILSON

glengeorgewilson@aol.com

St Elizabeth