Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath told the Senate Wednesday the People’s Partnership Government is willing to contribute up to $30,000 to match every dollar that farmers spend to install new technology in their fields to fight against praedial larceny.
Speaking in the budget debate, Bharath said the country's food import bill last year was $3.8 billion.
He said reliance on importing food must stop because Trinidad and Tobago is vulnerable to sudden changes in the price of international commodities.
Instead Bharath announced that his ministry will adopt a policy aimed at providing food security, which he said the past government failed to provide despite spending large sums of money.
The focus, he said, would be on addressing issues affecting farmers including securing land tenure, infrastructure and water management, access roads, limited incentives and praedial larceny.
He promised better training for the praedial larceny squad, who would be better equipped to deal with the issue. And the minister said there will be greater collaboration in this issue among the police, farmers, communities and the ministry.
“We are seeking to introduce technology in the fight against praedial larceny. We are engaged in discussions with a technical solutions management agency for the provision of fencing, alarm systems and cameras to curb larceny,” he said.
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