Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

[Panajar]

AGRICULTURE INTERESTS have accused hoteliers of undermining local farmers by refusing to enter into contracts for the supply of produce. But the tourism and hotel sector has denied the charge, while calling on farmers to get their act together.

Alvin Murray, general manager of the Christiana Potato Growers Cooperative , charged during a Gleaner Editors' Forum on Friday that some hotels were manipulating the pricing system by refusing to sign contracts with farmers - taking advan-tage of gluts and playing farmers against each other during shortages.

He urged hotels to sign contracts, thereby guaranteeing consistency of supply and price year-round, whatever the circumstances.

Murray was supported by Vincent Thompson, agricultural specialist with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund.

&quot;The hoteliers behave as if the farmers are unable to supply when, in fact, this is not so. <span style="font-weight: bold">Hotels continue to treat the farmers as they did 50 years ago,&quot;</span> Thompson told the forum, which was held at the offices of the Christiana Potato Growers Co-operative Association in Manchester. read the rest

GLEANER

Of course dem a go deny it, a wonda why dem treat the little farmers so.. ME already have a theory why dem continue this wickedness .

[franksterr]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

Greed..

I hope the government put rules in place that increase the share of produce local hotels should source from local farmers where reliable available. If not then following the capitalist model the hoteliers will source their supplies from the cheapest available source which will always be heavily subsidize foreign products - dumping.

[Peasie]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Panajar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Of course dem a go deny it, a wonda why dem treat the little farmers so.. ME already have a theory why dem continue this wickedness . </div></div>

Tell us nuh? Don't hold back.

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

why would the farmers expect to get a equitable contract with hoteliers who have nothing to lose if they don't buy from them?
you cant blame the hoteliers.

It is the same farmers accept their government to leave them out in the cold.

Where you ever hear you have farmers without national system of irrigation for their crops?

only 2 types of farmers in Jamaica Banana farmers and cane farms. and only the ones that the government supply with irrigation in both fields are real farmers.
The rest are idiots posing as farmers.

[Wahalla]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

Doc call a significant portion of the Jamaican public idiots is arrogant.. shame on you.... As one of those people whom you call an idiot.. I once more see this as an example of urbanites..

Expecting the hotels to have contracts with individual farmers does not make sense.. a logistic night mare.. Having said that I have a friend whom the good doc describes as a &quot;idiots posing as farmers.&quot; who has a contract to supply papayas to a couple hotels directly....Another who supplies chicken meat directly bypassing the Broilers association. I knew a guy who had a much room farm who had a contracct with a couple hotels to supply mushrooms... But these &quot;idiots posing as farmers&quot; were the exception.

Butch Stwart made a comment once that it is either feast or faminie with Jamaican farmers. and my experience was the same, there was no continutiy but this was in the day before the tunnels invaded Jamaica...

If I was a hotilier I would go to a single source distributor(s)to supply the baics irrespetive of where the origin, this would some what de risk the operation... Now if there was a farmer who could supply a specific product all year round I would go to him for that.. like my friend papaya, or a dairy or eggs say.... But say yams ???? onions.. can a farmer supply in the quantities required ? ie say a specific amount in high season ? a specific in low season..

But sabotoage ????? Again I heard a interveiw with buthes son who pointed out that it was easier to do bizness in Jamaica as compared to Antigua who had less agriculture and every thing had to be imported... But as a former &quot;idiot posing as a farmer&quot; I would not know...

[Blackstar*]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wahalla</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">If I was a hotilier I would go to a single source distributor(s)to supply the baics irrespetive of where the origin, this would some what de risk the operation... Now if there was a farmer who could supply a specific product all year round I would go to him for that.. like my friend papaya, or a dairy or eggs say.... But say yams ???? onions.. can a farmer supply in the quantities required ? ie say a specific amount in high season ? a specific in low season..</span> </div></div>I was thinking the same thing. It would be beneficial for the farmers to organize themselves into a cooperative.

[Panajar]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<span style="font-size: 14pt">The people who control the Jamaican economy are deliberately trying to destroy the local farmers .I wonda why? Here is another example.This is no coincidence.The power players in Jamaican's economy would rather support people in the Dominican Republic, than support the local small farma.wat dem fraid of ,dem tink poor people mite get independent and stop depend pon dem, and dem might not have control over the peasants anymore.
</span>





A ginger display at last Friday's Gleaner Editors' Forum in Christiana. Alvin Murray, head of the potato cooperative in the Manchester town, said the local industry is under threat from imports. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer
Jamaica's penchant for foreign produce is strangling the operations of small farmers, claims general manager of the Christiana Potato Growers Cooperative Association, Alvin Murray.

<span style="color: #990000">Murray, in lamenting the struggles of local farmers, claimed Jamaica has imported 70 per cent of ginger used domestically despite supplying 23 per cent of world demand.</span>

<span style="color: #990000">&quot;Right now, the farmers are meeting hell</span>. They are in trouble,&quot; he told a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum in Christiana, Manchester.

Supporting Murray's claim, Finance Minister Audley Shaw, who is also member of parliament for North East Manchester, disclosed that, among other things, Jamaica imports a significant amount of tomato paste and pepper mash.

<span style="color: #660000">&quot;<span style="font-size: 14pt">We were importing pepper mash from the Dominican Republic and places like that although we produce the best scotch bonnet pepper and the finest-tasting in the world. But we end up importing most of it,&quot; Shaw said</span>.</span>

Waiver woes

The finance minister did not provide any figures, but argued that, with more greenhouses, we &quot;could produce all the tomato that we could ever need and produce all the tomato paste that we could ever need to supply the local market.

&quot;As minister of finance, one of the things I am tired to do is to sign waivers ... import waivers for tomato paste,&quot; he lamented.

<span style="color: #660000">Shaw said the shift towards foreign produce was taking place even though Jamaican farmers provide the marketplace with good-quality fruits and vegetables.
</span>
&quot;When people go to Sovereign supermarket (in Liguanea, St Andrew) and see those sweet peppers, they want to know which state of the United States it was produced in ... where was it imported from.

&quot;There is not even an assumption that it was produced in Jamaica, much less in Devon, in North East Manchester,&quot; he added.




GLEANER

[Wahalla]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wahalla</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">If I was a hotilier I would go to a single source distributor(s)to supply the baics irrespetive of where the origin, this would some what de risk the operation... Now if there was a farmer who could supply a specific product all year round I would go to him for that.. like my friend papaya, or a dairy or eggs say.... But say yams ???? onions.. can a farmer supply in the quantities required ? ie say a specific amount in high season ? a specific in low season..</span> </div></div>I was thinking the same thing. It would be beneficial for the farmers to organize themselves into a cooperative. </div></div>

And yes coorpratives would help in my opnion... And it would open the possibility to finance through futures..

[Blackstar*]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Panajar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Waiver woes

The finance minister did not provide any figures, but argued that, with more greenhouses, we &quot;could produce all the tomato that we could ever need and produce all the tomato paste that we could ever need to supply the local market.

&quot;As minister of finance, one of the things I am tired to do is to sign waivers ... import waivers for tomato paste,&quot; he lamented.</span> </div></div>Shaw is incompetent, a hypocrite, a fool or possibly all of the above. If there is any single person who could turn things around, it is he. Stop signing waivers and propose taxation laws that promote local production and sourcing; why doesn't he work with his counterpart in Agriculture?

Damned politician.

[Panajar]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
&quot;As minister of finance, one of the things I am tired to do is to sign waivers ... import waivers for tomato paste,&quot; he lamented.[/i] </div></div>Shaw is incompetent, a hypocrite, a fool or possibly all of the above. If there is any single person who could turn things around, it is he. Stop signing waivers and propose taxation laws that promote local production and sourcing; why doesn't he work with his counterpart in Agriculture?

Damned politician. [/quote]

Shaw would be committing political suicide, if he does not sign the majority of these waivers.Most of these waivers are requested by powerful people who finance the political parties, these people have a vested interest in ensuring that the peasants remain in their place.

[RichD]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Panajar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Waiver woes

The finance minister did not provide any figures, but argued that, with more greenhouses, we &quot;could produce all the tomato that we could ever need and produce all the tomato paste that we could ever need to supply the local market.

&quot;As minister of finance, one of the things I am tired to do is to sign waivers ... import waivers for tomato paste,&quot; he lamented.</span> </div></div>Shaw is incompetent, a hypocrite, a fool or possibly all of the above. If there is any single person who could turn things around, it is he. Stop signing waivers and propose taxation laws that promote local production and sourcing; why doesn't he work with his counterpart in Agriculture?

Damned politician. </div></div>

without replacement in place it would be unreasonable to prohibit the importation of these goods.
do you really think that Taxation is the reason for lack of investment in these areas?

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

You got smart and leave farming.

Your friends who are farming are just surviving on pure luck.

All it need is girl a period of either drought or hurricane.

They have no infrastructure or crop insurance to return thirty productivity after those very common events.

That is why you ran.

You were too smart to play at being farmer. <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Wahalla</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Doc call a significant portion of the Jamaican public idiots is arrogant.. shame on you.... As one of those people whom you call an idiot.. I once more see this as an example of urbanites..

Expecting the hotels to have contracts with individual farmers does not make sense.. a logistic night mare.. Having said that I have a friend whom the good doc describes as a &quot;idiots posing as farmers.&quot; who has a contract to supply papayas to a couple hotels directly....Another who supplies chicken meat directly bypassing the Broilers association. I knew a guy who had a much room farm who had a contracct with a couple hotels to supply mushrooms... But these &quot;idiots posing as farmers&quot; were the exception.

Butch Stwart made a comment once that it is either feast or faminie with Jamaican farmers. and my experience was the same, there was no continutiy but this was in the day before the tunnels invaded Jamaica...

If I was a hotilier I would go to a single source distributor(s)to supply the baics irrespetive of where the origin, this would some what de risk the operation... Now if there was a farmer who could supply a specific product all year round I would go to him for that.. like my friend papaya, or a dairy or eggs say.... But say yams ???? onions.. can a farmer supply in the quantities required ? ie say a specific amount in high season ? a specific in low season..

But sabotoage ????? Again I heard a interveiw with buthes son who pointed out that it was easier to do bizness in Jamaica as compared to Antigua who had less agriculture and every thing had to be imported... But as a former &quot;idiot posing as a farmer&quot; I would not know... </div></div>

[Blackstar*]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">do you really think that Taxation is the reason for lack of investment in these areas?</span> </div></div>Hoteliers get tax breaks for imports of many supplies. It would be better to get tax breaks for re-investing profits in local production.

[jah_yout]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dr.Dudd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">why would the farmers expect to get a equitable contract with hoteliers who have nothing to lose if they don't buy from them?
you cant blame the hoteliers.

It is the same farmers accept their government to leave them out in the cold.

Where you ever hear you have farmers without national system of irrigation for their crops?

only 2 types of farmers in Jamaica Banana farmers and cane farms. and only the ones that the government supply with irrigation in both fields are real farmers.
The rest are idiots posing as farmers. </div></div>

the u.s gov't subsidizes many farm goods...

the j'can gov't or farmers simply can't compete with that...
if the j'can gov't takes steps to protect its farming industry how long will it be before the S-word starts creeping into conversations...what about the N-word

(nationalization)

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Dem wicked:hoteliers undermining local farmers

Jamaican government don't need to subsidize small farmers.

It simply need to create a national irrigation system and establish crop insurance to tied them over after the hurricane hit of flood.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dr.Dudd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">why would the farmers expect to get a equitable contract with hoteliers who have nothing to lose if they don't buy from them?
you cant blame the hoteliers.

It is the same farmers accept their government to leave them out in the cold.

Where you ever hear you have farmers without national system of irrigation for their crops?

only 2 types of farmers in Jamaica Banana farmers and cane farms. and only the ones that the government supply with irrigation in both fields are real farmers.
The rest are idiots posing as farmers. </div></div>

the u.s gov't subsidizes many farm goods...

the j'can gov't or farmers simply can't compete with that...
if the j'can gov't takes steps to protect its farming industry how long will it be before the S-word starts creeping into conversations...what about the N-word

(nationalization) </div></div>