The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is giving Government a failing grade when it comes to agriculture, but Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security Dr Shantal Munro-Knight says the administration remains focused on tackling the complex issues pertaining to the sector.
Amoy Gilding-Bourne, DLP spokesperson on agriculture and fisheries, accused the ministry and Munro-Knight of “fumbling the ball” when it came to dealing with the monkey problem, the environmental issue at Spencer’s in Christ Church, the sugar industry, praedial larceny and water infrastructure.
In a statement, she described Government’s approach as “entirely superficial and completely detached from reality”.
“To hear the Minister of Agriculture announce that after eight long years in office, this Government is now doing research on the monkey problem is absolutely mindboggling. This is not a new problem, but while our farmers watch their investments, hard work and livelihoods destroyed daily by green monkey troops, they are told to wait on more studies. This isn’t governance; it is a desperate stall tactic to mask a total lack of actionable solutions,” she said.
In response, Munro-Knight, who was appointed in February as the first woman to hold the position, told the DAILY NATION that monkeys and crop theft were “big societal issues”.
“The ministry currently has multipronged solutions that we will soon be rolling out, but I am making sure to do the necessary consultation. I am sure that I articulated that the study was one of the things we need the data for and I am not going to back down from a data-driven approach to drive decision-making,” she said.
Gilding-Bourne said farmers and fisherfolk were “entirely fed up” with the administration’s “mismanagement” of the agricultural and fisheries sectors, the latter of which falls under the Ministry of Environment, National Beautification and Fisheries.
She said Government’s “pattern of hollow public relations manoeuvres” never lead to real accountability.
In relation to Spencer’s, where human waste was dumped near agricultural land, Gilding-Bourne, an attorney, said: “The minister boldly stood before the nation and promised that the perpetrators dumping faeces into the ground at Spencer’s would be prosecuted. Months later, the nation and our farmers are still waiting.
“It has become painfully clear that this administration moves rapidly for social media damage control, but when the cameras turn off, the promised enforcement vanishes. It is the exact same story with praedial larceny: bold words, zero convictions and zero protection for the victims.”
She also queried why the Government had kept the nation “completely in the dark” regarding the state of the sugar industry.
“We are heading to November and the country has heard nothing about the sugar crop yields or molasses yields for 2025/2026. The sugar and rum industries are at a historical crossroads. Why the total blackout on production data and factory performance indicators? . . . The stakeholders, the rum producers and the public have a right to know exactly where our sugar sector stands,” she said.
The DLP spokesperson claimed that the ministry’s inaction was actively forcing small farms out of business, leaving fisherfolk to struggle with soaring costs at crumbling facilities, and failing to deliver critical, drought-resistant water infrastructure. She called on the minister to take immediate action.
“Our food producers cannot feed the nation on frameworks and empty promises of future technology. We need tangible relief now. That means implementing direct water subsidies, deploying real-time security policing to stop crop thieves and providing financial relief for the fisheries sector,” she said.
Munro-Knight spoke of positive steps they had already made and while admitting the speed of implementation left a bit to be desired, she said she remained committed to the betterment of the agricultural sector.
“The issues in agriculture are complex. I have said consistently that I will not offer quick solutions that don’t address the systemic challenges. We have launched an agro-statistics platform; we have just digitised our rebate system; we are currently putting four new wells in the Mount Poyer area; and I have been meeting with farmers throughout Barbados and will continue to do so.
“Things need to move a bit faster, I agree completely, and there is some level of valid frustration. The commitment, however, to listen and work better and harder is there. I have no problem at all with constructive engagement on my performance over the last nine months and I am willing to listen and engage anyone in dialogue,” she added. (CA)