Hoteliers interested in acquiring plants from the Ministry of Agriculture, as part of ongoing efforts to replenish coconut palms that were decimated by the Lethal Yellowing disease, are asked to contact the Forestry Unit for further information.
The unit is currently propagating plants from disease-tolerant seeds imported from South America, and Senior Forestry Officer, Adriel Thibou, told Observer, over the weekend, that they consider the hotels a secure means of helping to rebuild the plant stock.
Based on this fact, he said the unit is willing to work along with the hotels and make appropriate arrangements.
“We know for a surety that there is security at the hotels, so the plants will survive, nobody will steal them. If hotels want to work along with us and we will provide the plants and they will take care of them and plant them on the beaches as long as they can provide the security, they can call us and we will work along with them.”
He also added, “There will have to be an arrangement where properties will have to provide us with the fruit so that we can continue to propagate more plants in the future.”
Thibou also spoke to the involvement of residents, who is said, are also showing keen interest in obtaining some of the palm plants.
He said some have come onboard to purchase plants and only a few have been sold because of the limited quantity.
The head of the forestry unit also stressed that the main aim of the initiative is not to sell the plants, but to [freely] distribute them.