Rethink tax on agricultural property; make T&T caribbean bread basket

Farmers have substantial power and they must use it to ensure that the right measures are in place to make Trinidad and Tobago the food basket of the Caribbean. That's the message that the President of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago delivered to about a thousand farmers Sunday at a national agricultural forum at the Macoya Wholesale Farmers' Market in Tunapuna. Dhano Sookoo told her colleagues she believes that the government appears to getting its priorities right but putting emphasis on the agricultural sector, although she was not impressed with the new property tax on agricultural land. Sookoo said the renewed focus on food security comes at "a necessary time", since shortages of food is now a major global issue. But she urged the Manning government to think carefully about the one per cent tax on agricultural land announced in the budget Sookoo said citizens are still feeling the burdens of decades of agricultural neglect and added that perhaps the time has come when "farmers are no longer the forgotten part of society". But she raised a red flag about the property tax, suggesting that it would hinder the high level of development that the agricultural sector needs to modernize itself "We must pay cognizance to the fact that the agricultural sector is not developed and cannot be burdened with further taxation," Sookoo declared. Sookoo warned that the time for talk in relation to agricultural development in this country is over. She observed that farmers are beginning to recognise the tremendous power they hold and said those involved in agriculture must ensure that government delivers on all its promises. She reiterated that farmers have a significant role in national development. In recognition of that, she said both policy makers and farmers must take the initiative to help "reposition Trinidad and Tobago as the food basket of the Caribbean".