Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said on national television Tuesday it is OK for people to squat on State lands if they plant crops on the land they intend to occupy.
Bharath made the statement in an interview on TV6. The Minister noted that hundreds of farmers have applied for land tenure but the process will take years because of the bureaucracy within the ministry.
He said there is a "lackadaisical" culture within the ministry when it comes to treating with the issue of land tenure, which will not change overnight.
Bharath said people who have no land tenure would be denied the various incentives his ministry is offering to make the country productive and reduce the dependence on imported food.
Bharath made the statement in an interview on TV6. The Minister noted that hundreds of farmers have applied for land tenure but the process will take years because of the bureaucracy within the ministry.
He said there is a "lackadaisical" culture within the ministry when it comes to treating with the issue of land tenure, which will not change overnight.
Bharath said people who have no land tenure would be denied the various incentives his ministry is offering to make the country productive and reduce the dependence on imported food.
"In fact, many people have left the agricultural sector simply because they have not had tenure for their lands," the minister said.
He added, "If you didn't have tenure to your land you could not access all of the incentives that the ministry offered, nor could you go to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and access preferential rates or preferential loans. In fact you could not go to any commercial bank and get a loan to develop your farming industry."
Bharath said farmers who make productive use of at least 30 per cent of the land they currently occupy could access all of the incentives that the ministry offers. "You could go to the ministry and get a loan based on what you are doing," he noted.
He dismissed the idea that his plan would lead to lawlessness, adding that if farmers did not squat the country would have no food.
"If tomorrow morning, you said to Trinidad and Tobago, to people utilising lands, you ask them to leave, you know what would happen to food in Trinidad and Tobago? It will virtually have no food to eat and it's no fault of their own simply because the ministry has been tardy in allocating lands to people to farm."
He added, "If you didn't have tenure to your land you could not access all of the incentives that the ministry offered, nor could you go to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and access preferential rates or preferential loans. In fact you could not go to any commercial bank and get a loan to develop your farming industry."
Bharath said farmers who make productive use of at least 30 per cent of the land they currently occupy could access all of the incentives that the ministry offers. "You could go to the ministry and get a loan based on what you are doing," he noted.
He dismissed the idea that his plan would lead to lawlessness, adding that if farmers did not squat the country would have no food.
"If tomorrow morning, you said to Trinidad and Tobago, to people utilising lands, you ask them to leave, you know what would happen to food in Trinidad and Tobago? It will virtually have no food to eat and it's no fault of their own simply because the ministry has been tardy in allocating lands to people to farm."
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