Agriculture Minister Ezechiel Joseph has assured the public that the government has not given up on shipping bananas to France. During an interview on the National Television Network on May 11, Joseph indicated that their intention was to enter the french market through Winfresh, and that there was a trial shipment. “The market told us that they wanted 22 clusters in a box, and each cluster bag with 6 fingers. Unfortunately, when we went out there and we engaged the farmers, we were not able to get 3000 boxes.
“We had an agreement with the french market, that we would have a trial for 3 months —3000 boxes every week. Our first shipment we could not supply the 3000 boxes as they required.” Joseph said that in some boxes there were 18 clusters, while others had 20 and 22.
With Winfresh currently facing “financial challenges,” the minister said that the entity is not able to expand their market. “So when the shipment left Saint Lucia and we informed them, they said ‘that’s not what they asked us’… So the situation with Winfresh now, we’re not able to look at the french market but it’s something we need to continue as soon as Winfresh gets back on its feet.”
The minister indicated that last Friday, prime ministers Allen Chastanet, Roosevelt Skerrit and Ralph Gonsalves held a virtual meeting with the entity’s board. Later this week, the board is expected to submit a proposal geared at restructuring the entity. The company must be restructured to become a viable entity, the minister stressed. “The reality is that Winfresh has not even paid our banana farmers for weeks in Saint Lucia because of the financial situation. In fact, I had to go and seek at least $1 million payment for the banana farmers in lieu of Winfresh not paying them…The situation with Winfresh is not encouraging, we have to restructure Winfresh,” he said.
During his presentation to the Debate on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure last month, Dennery North MP Shawn Edward called on Joseph to apologize to farmers. Edward said that he was excited when the government first spoke about exploring market opportunities in France — knowing that some of the farmers in his constituency could benefit. However, the government has not delivered.
Said Edward: “I believe the time has come for the minister for Agriculture to stand here and apologize to the farmers of this country… All of us have tried certain initiatives in government and sometimes they don’t bear fruit, they do not bear fruit. Four years on since that idea of exporting bananas to the french territory was mooted, four years on, nothing has materialized from it. And you know what, the farmers have been violated!”
