By Robert A Emmanuel
Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture have reportedly engaged in talks with staff at the Dunbars Experimental Station and their union representatives to find a solution to their concerns about securing agricultural crops and equipment at the facility.
Last week, excavators digging up large parcels of land near the agricultural facility entered the area, uprooting many trees, crops and the drip irrigation system to make way for a social housing project, catching staff there by surprise with the apparent sudden approach.
Sources indicated to Observer yesterday that the Permanent Secretary Sandra Joseph, Minister Chet Greene and other ministry officials met with union representatives where the decision was taken to allow workers to remove the crops and other equipment still at the site.
It is also reported that a new building will be built for the workers in Bethesda to serve as the new research division.
On Tuesday, Observer media witnessed several drip irrigation lines and crops dug up by the excavator under piles of soil.
According to the workers, the irrigation drip lines cost around $3,000 per field.
Several fruit trees were also reportedly stolen by members of the public taking advantage of the confusion.
Meanwhile, Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, Lionel Hurst, told the workers at yesterday’s weekly post-Cabinet press briefing that the administration was moving full steam ahead with plans to flatten the area to make way for the housing development.
He said that the work carried out at the station was a mere drop in finances compared to the hoped-for economic boost the housing project will rake in.
“We’re not giving them months or weeks to remove whatever equipment, especially the drip irrigation hoses.
“Let me repeat it again – there are sweet potatoes in the grounds there, let us assume that the sweet potatoes are worth $500, the idea that $500 worth of potatoes should get in the way of houses that are going to be sold for nearly $400,000 or more, it’s clearly not acceptable,” he claimed.
Despite workers stating publicly that they were not against the housing development policy, but they were seeking clarity on certain issues relating to the technical aspect of the decision, Hurst claimed that the workers were putting up “resistance”.
He said that the area was ideal for housing due to its close proximity to St John’s while businesses continue to move out of the city to set up locations, particularly on Friars Hill Road.
He also claimed that the facility at Dunbars, despite having various soil types present in the area, was not the ideal place for agricultural testing.
“Christian Valley is the best area, and that’s one of the possible venues to which the experimental station will move; there’s also a lot of unused lands at Diamonds Estate and its surrounding areas and we think that they might be better places in which to undertake experiments,” Hurst said.