Dominica: The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Blue Economy of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Roland Royer, along with the dedicated team from the Ministry, engaged with farmers from the East Agricultural Region, continuing the “Meet the Farmers” tour.
The Ministers discussed their farming and fishing techniques and processing systems and the challenges which hinder expansion. The programme is meant to build awareness of the ongoing work by the government of Dominica.
He said, “The various ministries the government of Dominica are working on your behalf are for you. Focus on government and development. Ministry also shared an example of a coffee plant in Portsmouth by saying, “It could be an operation by you. And I want you to reiterate some of that because it’s so good to hear, but bring us up to date if there are any recent developments.”
The cabinet minister of Dominica has approved two strategies for the coffee sector. The first, working with the Venezuelans, will invest around $4 million to rehabilitate the coffee plant in Pomo to recover from damage during Maria. And even prior to that, we had some operational issues.
Furthermore, he stated, “We have all equipment required already packaged, ready to be shipped, and there will be an island at least before May of 2023. So far, we have brought water and the Wasco lines to the facility that was noted before, and of course, we work with you as well to install and replace the transformer.
“To operate and facility and we’ve conducted a technical assessment for the uptake of 2 million BT natural Gas, which will be required, required to run a plant. So we’ve actually started putting things in place, and work has been done. So once we receive the equipment, the techno support will come from Venezuela, with a consultant will be hired to come and install the equipment,” said Royer.
The Ministry is hiring young persons to operate the machinery to have the coffee plant running. Along with that, Ministry hoped that the coffee plant will come into operation soon.
