| Mai has written to the Prime Minister to ask him to put a one month prohibition on imported fries. But while Mai wants to put the potato peelers to work, Minister of Agriculture Godwin Hulse says what he needs to help with is putting the contraband smugglers out of commission. Hulse says they are the reason that the market is flooded with Mexican potatoes. In fact, Hulse says that the last permit to bring in Mexican potatoes was issued in mid-January and it was to bring in four thousand pounds over an 11 day period. That has long expired but the market remains flooded with Mexican potatoes which outsell their Belizean counterparts. Hulse says his Ministry is looking for solutions:
Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture
"Ministry is playing the role of a facilitator, because one of the problems as I understand it is about 2.5 million pounds of potato. But the country uses 100,000 a week. So that's 25 weeks supply. Somebody has to store it, somebody has to take care of it to filter it through the process. I can't speak for this year, because I just got this ministry, but I'm hoping that next year when we have this, we won't have this. It's either we have storage or we have phase productions, so everything doesn't come in one day. Because that the problem with most products in Belize - all the cashew, mango in one day, we can't store it and clearly people can't buy it one day."
"It would be better to drop the price and try to see if the distributers will take a greater quantity than keep it at the same price and they only buy what they can buy. But I wanted to put this in the mix, because I've heard a lot on radio about permits being given out. Our check of the ministry, show that we have not issued any permits since the last 3 weeks. 18th January was the last permit and I made the list available. But there are and that's why you heard me speaking about it a while ago, about contraband, because that is one of our biggest enemy and until we can get on top of that and until the Belizean importers have a conscience and realize that we are working in one country and if you kill this off, then they time will come when we will be totally foreign dependent."
Reporter
"As it stands right now, the farmers who have thousands of potatoes at their homes just rotting or some of them say they are trying to negotiate down the price, some of them say it makes absolutely no sense, because the chemicals and fertilizers are so high and they are basically operating at a loss if the bring it down to the price of the Mexican potatoes are going for, where production is really cheaper in Mexico, so at this point in time, this is just a loss for the farmers."
Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture
"There should be no Mexican potato here."
Reporter
"But there are."
Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture
"People need to point out where they are, because as I said the last permit was for 4,000 pounds, was the 18th January. We are at February end almost. And if it's a 100,000 per week being use, then do the math. There should be none, unless it's coming from La Union or somewhere else and that's why we have to clamp down."
"Last but not least I want to say this though, because I've understood from some importers and some users: restaurant people, that it's not all the potato that is satisfactory for marsh potato, for French fries, for chips - so all of those things have to be look at as well to make sure that the quality of potato is grown is one that you the consumer wants and then of course talking about price. Remember again the government has a responsibility to provide for all the nation. You all like to say that 44% or something like that of the people are poor, so you can't be putting high priced food on them."
Reporter
"The aspect of storage that you proposed for the future, is that something that being looked at as something that can be done, or will it be cost effective or not?"
Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture
"It depends. I have commissioned my people to look at it urgently, because and then hopefully that a private sector investment. There are lots of people in Belize who have money, who would want to invest in certain things. That could be an investment possibility."
|
