Agriculture Minister Chet Greene said that the government continues to review exactly where it will place workers that formerly worked at the Dunbars Experimental Station and Cotton Division —nearly two months after deciding to uproot the area to make way for a housing project.
In January, workers were caught off-guard when excavators began to uproot many of the fields at the nine-acre property to make way for a new social housing project.
The development prompted many protests from the Opposition and other activists, claiming that it symbolised agriculture’s steady decline under the government, as well as a lack of consultation with experts over the move.
Minister Greene told our newsroom that the government is looking to have the workers stationed at two locations which will allow staff to expand research services.
“We have opted to change the model, and so the whole question of [research and development] will no longer be the preserve of any one location,” he said.
The first location, he noted, was the previously reported area in Bethesda which is currently being retrofitted for agriculture research, with the second location being the climate-smart building in Christian Valley.