FARMERS MUST DEFEND THEIR LIVING!

The handing over of prime Caroni lands to selected companies certainly raises cause for concern about the government’s agricultural policy and who benefits from it.

Small farmers all over the country have been fighting for thirty, forty and even fifty years for security of tenure. It is the most crucial issue facing farmers today and is the main obstacle in farmers’ effort to produce abundant food for the nation.

How come, then, four companies could be facilitated so quickly after they applied for licenses to set up mega farms? What about regularising farmers in areas like Garden Village, Felicity, Couva, Biche, Plum Mitan, Bois Bande Village, Bamboo and so many areas in the East, West , North, South and Tobago? There seems to be a class bias at work here!

The great grab for former Caroni lands is on. It is clear that those who work the land and have a proven track record of supplying the nation with food are being shoved aside as the government, as it usually does, rushes to fix up the capitalists in their quest to maximise profits even if it means gouging out the eyes of the population with high prices.

Blue Waters and PCS Nitrogen got into the act early. Now we have among others: Caribbean Chemicals owned by the Pires family; SuperMix Feeds which already dominates the poultry sector and pays factory workers less than the minimum wage and refuses to deal with the National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE) even though the union won recognition legally. Food and Fuel Forum understands that there are 11 more commercial farms to be established.

What is mind blowing is that the government has decided to adopt the agribusiness, mega farm model that is responsible for the high prices and artificial shortages that swept the international food market last year. This model sees food as just another commodity to be speculated on, the supply of which can be manipulated to make super profits. It sidelines small farmers who have developed generations of expertise on the land.

These agri businessmen will enjoy the infrastructure that Caroni (meaning the taxpayers) put in over the years (electricity, access roads, drainage) while farmers bawl every year when they lose their crops to flooding and are not compensated. It seems some are more equal than others in this country!

Imagine $98 million were spent on Chaguaramas mega farm and PCS mega farm! If small farmers had access to that kind of funding there would be a food boom in this country. These agri businessmen seem to be going into direct competition with small farmers when the real challenge should be import substitution and the application of research and technology to cultivating legumes - split peas, channa, lentils, nuts, red beans – and crops like potatoes, carrots and onions.

While the mega farms compete with small farmers in vegetable and traditional root crop production the food importers make a killing. When vegetable prices fall, it isn’t because of government policy, it is because the twenty thousand farmers are resilient and they always bounce back and take another crack at feeding the nation.

The class bias and discrimination at the heart of the government agricultural policy is clear. It has nothing to do with feeding the nation. It is really a land grab on the part of the capitalists supported by their agents in the government. How else could a character like Rao have been given control over 70,000 acres of former Caroni lands when by law the EMBDC controlled only 2,000 acres while the rest fell under the control of the Commissioner of Lands. Yet Rao ran amok, confronted farmers, bulldozed lands and houses and generally disrupted the feeding of the nation.

The agri businessmen had their licenses speedily processed; the 7,800 former Caroni two acre farmers went through and are still going through red tape torture for years in a bid to get control over their land. The mega farms inherited areas set aside especially for them like Picton, Edinburgh, Jerningham and Caroni. The two acre farmers inherited a nightmare.

According to a study done by Persad, Rampersad and Wilson 67% of the land suffered from poor drainage; 88% suffered from inadequate irrigation facilities; 57% displayed high soil acidity with pH less than 4.5, mainly in the North and Central. These lands have low levels of plant nutrients. Before the government proceeded to distribute lands, they should have instituted a soil amelioration programme through heavy lime application to improve the pH and the application of phosphate and organic matter. In the South much of the lands suffer from erosion and slippage; 76% of the land displays low nutrient availability; 94% of the lands needed clearing and levelling.

These farmers have to engage in rain-fed agriculture, yet the dry season is the best season for vegetable and food crop production: higher photosynthesis, less pest and disease problems. The emphasis therefore should have been on solving irrigation challenges. But it was all a big sham.

The two acre farm scheme was no land reform; it was just a smokescreen to cover up the great land grab that is underway. What we are witnessing is the wholesale privatisation of land to the capitalists and their conglomerates and transnational corporations. Remember, according to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) the government signed with the European Community, they have to treat European companies as if they were local companies. The future of small food crop producers is under threat. If the government is allowed to get away with this looting of the national patrimony then the food crop farming sector would be dead within ten years.

The Food and Fuel Forum urges small farmers to organise themselves to engage in direct, militant action to force the government to implement the $200 per hectare land rent. The Food and Fuel Forum urges small farmers to fight for an agriculture policy that puts the small farmer at the centre of the process by ensuring that the question of security of tenure is dealt with once and for all.

The policy must involve a food security programme based on reducing the costs of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertiliser, equipment etc.); guaranteeing decent prices to farmers, creating a system of agriculture intelligence, developing a network of access roads, instituting appropriate irrigation systems, land preparation and maintenance, proper extension services, re-activating research facilities and programmes involving the development of seed banks, plant plasma research etc.

The agribusiness firms are organised and are politically powerful. If small farmers are to survive they must also organise themselves and move to protect and secure their interests by putting pressure on the government. The time has passed for asking the government please. It is now a question of survival. What is needed is sustained, militant action to defend livelihoods and to salvage the future of the food crop sector.

2009-01-23

SECURITY OF TENURE NOW!

NO TO MEGA FARMS!

US PLOT TO USE PORT OF SPAIN AGAINST CARACAS?

(first published on 2006/09/15)

by
Gerry Kangalee

On September 8th and 9th 2006 Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) hosted a significant energy conference entitled Energy and the Competitiveness of the Caribbean. Strangely, the conference was not mentioned in the local media until the day it began.

It was organised by Caribbean Central American Action (CCAA) and the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Collaborating organisations included the US Department of Energy, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB).

The CCAA is a private organisation that promotes private sector-led economic development in the Caribbean Basin and throughout the Hemisphere. The organisation is very close to the US State Department and sponsors the (in) famous Miami Conferences on the Caribbean Basin.

The agenda dealt with topics of energy security; global energy challenges and their impact on Caribbean nations and industry; examination of the challenges of supplying reliable and affordable energy to Caribbean countries; oil pricing, taxation, transportation and fuel standards; energy efficiency; energy financing etc.

Attending the conference were: Karen Harbert - Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, US Department of Energy; Patrick Duddy - Deputy Assistant Secretary of State US State Department. There were government ministers, officials, bureaucrats, businessmen and academics from around the region, including Brasil, except from the most important oil producing country in the region – Venezuela, which is critical to the “energy security” of both the United States and the insular Caribbean. It may even become significant to the energy security of South America, what with Venezuela having the largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere.

The agenda was thunderous in its silence on Venezuela and its Petro Caribe initiative, but the undertone running throughout the conference could be nothing but Venezuela and Petro Caribe.

Imagine an energy conference held in T&T and the Venezuelans not invited? It’s unheard of! It reflects the deterioration of relations between the United States and Venezuela. The US is an implacable enemy of the Bolivarian Revolution; was involved in the anti-Chávez coup of 2002; refuses to extradite the arch-terrorist and murderer, Luis Posada; is twisting arms to try to keep Venezuela off the UN Security Council.

The United States is desperately intent on ensuring access to petroleum supplies to feed its voracious appetite for energy. In 2005 it consumed 20.7 million barrels of oil per day, of which 58% were net imports. The rest of the Western hemisphere consumed 8.2 million Venezuela exports 1.57 million barrels per day to the US, 14% of US imports, as much as it imports from Saudi Arabia or from Africa.

The US is involved in a global struggle with China for access to oil supplies. That struggle is sharpest in the Caspian basin and in Africa, where China, which the US considers its long term strategic enemy, matches the US in inducements to oil producing regimes.

This struggle is taking place against a background of slow down in the growth of petroleum reserves, a lack of spare capacity by OPEC, the disruptive consequences of speculative activity; growing supply risks and the increasing demand for energy, not least from the United States itself, but also from China, India, Brasil and other countries. World oil production was estimated at 68 million barrels per day in 2003. By 2025 it is estimated that demand would be 119 million barrels per day.

In such a situation, the US is anxious about its access to Venezuelan crude being maintained (14% of imports). The Venezuelans are once more engaging in what the Yankees call “resource nationalism”; diversifying their markets to lessen dependence on the US where 60% of its crude traditionally headed; developing a close relationship with China, the great rival of the US in its search for energy; engaging in pocket book diplomacy in the insular Caribbean; easing the pressure on Cuba.

It is all the more galling to the gringos when reports surface that Venezuela may have the largest oil deposit on the planet in the tar soaked Orinoco basin with potentially 300 billion barrels of extra heavy oil, which with the high price of oil, is no longer too costly or too difficult to produce. Global proven oil reserves are estimated to be 1.26 trillion barrels. Venezuela begins to loom large!

T&T Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s policy is to try to snuggle up tightly in the arms of the US, while having cordial relations with Venezuela. This means doing business with Venezuela, co-operating on security matters, strengthening cultural bonds. After all, T&T and Venezuela are very close neighbours and have shared family and trade relationships ever since Venezuelan pyongs opened up the valleys of the Northern Range and began the saga of Trinidad Cocoa. Venezuela gave us Brian Lara!

On September 5th, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago in a speech at a function organised by British Gas in Port of Spain, caused a raising of eyebrows. He chided the United States for its attitude toward the Caribbean. Karen Harbert responded to the Prime Minister’s statement during the conference in a conciliatory manner.

Mr. Manning raised the issue of Venezuela’s Petro Caribe policy:

“(Caribbean countries) will have access to products from Venezuela transported in ships controlled by Venezuela in storage in their own countries owned and controlled in joint venture between Venezuela and a state entity…the storage now controlled by the multi-nationals will be of no value to them, they are likely to leave because they will also have lost their market …

Venezuela becomes the dominant player….the position of market dominance imposes an obligation on the dominant entity and that obligation is energy security that Trinidad and Tobago provides…for the region now and if a situation develops where our position is displaced then surely … the responsibility for providing energy security to the Caribbean can no longer rest on the shoulders of Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM countries will have to consider whether that is a happy position in which to find oneself …Trinidad and Tobago has had a stable Government we are stable politically and in so many other respects we are committed to Caribbean development and we have up until now been very successful to giving the Caribbean the level of security to which the Caribbean aspires.”

While he seems to be addressing CARICOM nations, in fact he is pointing out to the United States that Venezuela is expanding its influence in America’s so-called third border area. He has raised the question of the energy security of the Caricom nations being dependent upon revolutionary Bolivarian Venezuela and its Petro Caribe policy and not T&T (a reliable “stable politically” ally of the US).

What Mr. Manning does not say is that as a producer/refiner Trinidad and Tobago could not benefit from Petro Caribe because its oil industry is controlled by transnational corporations and is operated in their interest and not that of T&T.

He wants the US to provide duty free access for “Caribbean goods”, frets over the imminent demise of the Caribbean Basin Initiative, complains that the US is no longer interested in the fight against drugs in the Caribbean and even offers to patrol the Eastern Caribbean, if the US finances it.

Prime Minister Manning pointed out T&T’s “importance” to the energy security of the US:
“…for the first four months of this year we supplied … 73% of all US imports of LNG… we are going to have to decide whether we wish to place all our eggs in one basket; in the way that they are placed now too much of our LNG goes to one destination …and incidentally at prices that are not by any means the best prices that are available in the market.”

Mr. Manning is incapable of carrying out any threat of using LNG exports to the USA as a tool to affect US foreign policy in the Caribbean for two reasons. Firstly, the loss of T&T’s exports of LNG to the USA is hardly a threat to US energy security. While more than 70 % of LNG imports of the USA come from T&T, LNG accounts for less than 3% of US natural gas consumption. T&T, therefore supplies just over 2% of total US natural gas consumption, which works out to be .5% of US energy consumption. With more countries getting in to LNG the percentage is sure to drop over the next few years.

Secondly, Mr. Manning’s government has no control over the marketing of LNG. Like the bulk of the energy industry, this in the hands of the transnationals (BP, BG, Repsol). He has no cards to play in his embarrassing whinge to Washington about their lack of attention to the Caribbean. Or does he?

Manning’s spiel is like that of a house slave who is not one of his master’s favourites, so he sulks and pouts. Manning should be relieved that T&T does not figure much on the radar of the US as the declining hegemon scrambles for energy sources all over the globe and is not averse to using its military might to secure its interests.

What Mr. Manning should be worried about is that Venezuela figures prominently in the energy security of the US. According to Ms. Harbert, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs U.S. Department of Energy as part of her Testimony before the Committee on International Relations' Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere "Western Hemisphere Energy Security" on Thursday, March 2, 2006: Energy security is inextricably intertwined with economic prosperity and national security...We believe that a secure and prosperous Western Hemisphere is vital for our national interest.”

“Actions taken by any country to misuse or mismanage their energy resources without considering the global implications of their actions will have a negative impact on every country.”

“Key foreign policy objectives, including support for democracy, trade, sustainable economic development, poverty reduction, and environmental protection, rely on the provision of safe, reliable and affordable energy supplies.”

In other words, Latin America must know its place. Venezuela has no right to operate its energy industry in its own interests and at the heart of American foreign policy philosophy is access to energy supplies.

As the contradiction between the US and Venezuela sharpens, the Bolivarian regime is going to be subjected to renewed bouts of subversion, political interference and economic sabotage. The US already has a military presence in Colombia.

Ever since Don Francisco de Miranda used Port of Spain in 1806-1807 as a base to pursue the independence struggle against Spain in the early 19th century, Trinidad’s capital city has harboured Venezuelan revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries and the two countries have become inextricably intertwined in a relationship that goes way beyond trade. During the revolutionary insurrection in T&T in 1970, Venezuelan warships entered T&T waters.

Manning’s speech cannot be viewed as a half-hearted protest against US policy. He holds no cards and goes out of his way to defend the interests of US and other multinationals against the interests of his own people. His indifference to the residents of Chatham’s fight against the siting of an Alcoa aluminium smelter in their area illustrates the point. Not even in his wildest Walter Mitty secret life fantasy can Manning be described as a “resource nationalist.” So what’s the game?

There is an energy war taking place in the Caribbean. The main protagonists are the USA and Venezuela. T&T is a bit player. Mr. Manning is being used by US imperialism, like so many other Caribbean leaders before him (Burnham, Seaga, Eugenia Charles), as a tool in its battle to crush the Venezuelan revolution.

Don’t be surprised, but be very concerned, if you see T&T signing bilateral trade and security deals with the US. Do not be surprised, but be very concerned, if you see the FBI or the DEA, or whatever US intelligence agency, beefing up its presence in Port of Spain in an apparent response to Manning’s plea, but in reality to use the sovereign territory of T&T as a hotbed of subversion and sabotage against our revolutionary neighbour.. Be proactive and make it quite clear to Mr. Manning that the people of T&T will not willingly allow themselves to be used in America’s unjust war against Venezuela.

15/09/2006

SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF GUADELOUPE

On February 15th 2009 the following solidarity message was sent to Guadeloupe: The Food and Fuel Forum of Trinidad and Tobago offers, through the General Union of Guadeloupean Workers, UGTG, its deepest solidarity with the LKP, a grouping of forty seven peoples organisations, the workers and people of Guadeloupe as you pursue your general strike against the extreme exploitation that has been the lot of the masses of people in the French colonies in the Caribbean. We in Trinidad and Tobago also suffer the effects of the capitalist economic crisis and strongly empathise with the people of Guadeloupe.

We support your demands for an immediate increase in wages, pensions, and social benefits. In Guadeloupe where over 100,000 people live below the poverty line in a population of about 450,000 inhabitants. We support your demands for job security and job creation including training for youth, for the protection and improvement of trade union rights and for a decrease in rents.

We condemn the action of the government of France in sending hundreds of armed forces to Guadeloupe in an effort to repress, intimidate and brutalise the people of Guadeloupe. We are particularly concerned because of the massacre of Guadeloupeans by French troops that took place in May 1967 in response to a strike by construction workers.

We call upon the authorities in Guadeloupe to implement the measures demanded by the LKP and to immediately withdraw troops from Guadeloupe.

SUPPORT PEOPLE OF SPRING VILLAGE!
FOOD SECURITY FOR THE NATION!

The following bulletin was issued by the Food and Fuel Forum and the National Workers' Union in May 2008.

The National Workers’ Union (NWU) and the Food and Fuel Forum (FFF) stand in solidarity with the people of Spring Village/St. Augustine South/ Freeman Road in their struggle to produce food for the nation and to defend their community against the lawless actions of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

On Wednesday 7th May 2008, a contractor hired by the HDC bulldozed, without prior notice or warning, ten acres of land in the Spring Village area. These lands contained ochroes, peppers, coconuts and dasheen. The HDC, a state agency, at a time when concern is growing about the price and availability of food, took such callous action in its bid to build houses on Class I agricultural land so that the PNM could gain an electoral edge in the marginal seat of St. Augustine.

In the early 1990’s Caroni Ltd. handed over seven acres of land through the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation to the Village Council in the area for the construction of a recreation ground. In the interim the lands were planted up in food crops. Not surprisingly, after fifteen years, the recreation ground has not yet been built.

The HDC, in a contemptuous fork-tongued display, denied that the bulldozed land contained bearing crops, and, taking the citizens of T&T for fools claimed they were doing soil testing. Yeah right! What an insult to our intelligence! This bold-face lie by the HDC further angered the brave residents of the area who took action to defend their livelihood and their community. In true Trini style they blocked the contractor, faced the might of the police and blocked the streets in an attempt o get the attention of the political authorities and the citizens of the republic. The police detained eight residents, including Councillor K. Amin and Daniel Benny. Despite the oppressive actions of the State the villagers have continued to defy the forces of backwardness and have continued the struggle to live in a decent and civilised manner as all citizens are entitled to do.

According to the Environmental Management Authority Act (#3 of 2000) 35(1) the Minister “may...designate a list of activities requiring a certificate of environmental clearance.” and 35(2) “no person shall proceed with any activity which the Minister has designated as requiring a certificate unless such person applies for and receives a certificate from the Authority.”

Under the Schedule of Designated Activities of the Certificate of Environmental Clearance (Designated Activities Order) made under section 35(1) of Act #3 of 2000 a certificate of environmental clearance must be sought and obtained for “ the clearing, excavation, grading or land filling of an area of more than two hectares during a two year period.” (1 hectare = 2.47 acres). The HDC did not obtain a CEC before its assault on the people of Spring Village. It is, therefore, a lawless, rogue agency of the state just like its twin – UDECOTT. The HDC exhibited a callous and contemptuous disregard for its Corporate Social Responsibility to meet and treat with the people who would be affected by its decision to enter the lands and carry out any activity which would destroy their property and diminish their means of livelihood.

The HDC is a cynical, lawless, callous and shameless rogue agency operating on behalf of a government that boasts about “caring” for and being sensitive to the needs of the people. Shame! Shame! Shame on the HDC and the government! It is hypocrisy in the extreme for this government to talk about securing the food and nutrition future and yet allow HDC to violate and destroy crops and authorise house building on Class I River Estate soil in the Spring Village/Lower St. Augustine/Freeman Road area! Class I (River Estate Soil) lands, comprise 3126 hectares located in Tucker valley, Diego Martin, Westmoorings, Maracas Bay, Las Cuevas, Grand Riviere, Caura, Santa Cruz, St. Joseph and the area between the Northern Range and the Caroni River (Barataria/Beetham; Aranjuez/El Socorro; Curepe/Valsayn/Bamboo/Mt Hope; Pasea/Tunapuna).

Most of the Class I soil, the best soil for agriculture, has already been alienated into residential, commercial and infrastructural use. Only 24.5% of the most fertile land in the country is still under agricultural production. The Curepe/Valsayn area is the largest remaining location of Class I soil in the country, yet the HDC rushes in to alienate a sizeable portion of that land away from agriculture. Can anyone deny that the government is not an enemy of the masses?

The actions of the HDC remind of the lands at Ramgoolie Trace (Class I land) where despite widespread protests led by the National FoodCrop Farmers’ Association (NFFA), HDC planted houses on the land and promised residents that they would get houses. Only three Curepe families were housed! The HDC’s promises are as bitter as wormwood and sharp as two-edged sword!

The National Workers’ Union and the Food and Fuel Forum supports the demands put forward by the NFFA and the Spring Village Village Council that:

• Lands in the area should be reserved for agricultural production.
• Lands should be distributed in such a way as to give the farmers security of tenure.
• The government should provide the infrastructural and particularly irrigation amenities, support and incentives to the farmers to ensure a high standard of production.
• The squatting families that are occupying some of the lands be regularised in a humane, orderly and non-discriminatory manner.
  

The National Workers’ Union and the Food and Fuel Forum further demand that, as far as is practicable, as a matter of public policy, all remaining Class I River Estate soil lands must be reserved for agriculture and food security, particularly at Chaguaramas, the North Coast and Caura.

NO CHEAP FOOD?
SECURITY OF TENURE FOR FARMERS NOW!

LAND MUST GO TO THOSE WHO WORK IT!