Agriculture focus at St Peter Festival

THE ST PETER FESTIVAL will once again place major emphasis on agriculture.Minister of Social Work, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development Chris Sinckler, gave this assurance last Saturday at the opening of the festival.Speaking at the Speightstown Esplanade on the behalf of Minister of Agriculture, Senator Haynesly Benn, Sinckler said that agriculture was to be taken very seriously and he would make sure that the Rural Development Commission (RDC) and the agricultural ministry came together to strengthen agriculture.“Very shortly I will instruct the RDC to establish a commission which will ensure that there is an integrated rural development initiative with agricultural and non agricultural areas,” he said.Sinckler also added that “in these hard economic times, we needto service the needs of everyone, so the RDC will be revisiting the fishing industry by having courses on the techniques of boning and handling of fish”.He further mentioned that the RDC would host 60 vendors at the festival this year in the various activities, allowing them to sell, display and market their products.Chief financial officer at Digicel, Ciaran Burke praised the festival committee for their efforts stating that events such as the festival would help to keep St Peter alive.To show their appreciation to the members of their community, the members of the festival committee honoured five persons whom they believed made significant contributions to St Peter, at Saturday’s ceremony.Those saluted were Hall Edwards, Minerva Johnson, Carleon McClean, Charles Morris and Emilina Barlett.The St Peter Festival activities continued yesterday with a church service, and will continue today with a celebrity cricket match at the Speighstown playing field, and tomorrow with a senior citizens scenic bus ride. (DB)