by Linda Straker
- “Not available at this time,” was written answer submitted to Parliament
- Government announced 6-member broad-based Technical Working Group, not publicly named
- Banana ripening business was once a significant financial earner to MNIB
Senator Adrian Thomas, Leader of Government Business in the Upper House of Parliament, could not share with members the criteria used to determine the composition of the Technical Working Group for the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB), whose appointed chairman is now deceased.
“Not available at this time,” was the written answer submitted to Parliament in response to one of the questions asked by Senator Roderick St Clair, who represents the agriculture and farming sectors as an independent senator in the Upper House. St Clair’s list of questions centred on the MNIB’s future.
Since the partial shutdown of the MNIB operations in February 2023, Government announced the appointment of a 6-member broad-based Technical Working Group, not publicly named, to treat the establishment of an appropriate public-private partnership to support the sustainable growth of the agriculture sector.
However, according to documents submitted to Parliament, the chairman of the Technical Working Group was George Harford, who died at the General Hospital following a fire at his home a few weeks ago. He was a businessman and farmer whose business was in direct competition with the banana ripening business operations of MNIB.
The banana ripening business was once a significant financial earner to MNIB; however, when Harford became the direct competitor, MNIB lost as much as 40% of its monthly income.
On the Technical Working Group, the Ministry of Agriculture representative is Raquel Peters, while the farmers’ representative is Bevan Charles. The other members of the Group are Senator Salim Rahaman, representing the Grenada Chamber of Industry and Commerce, who will be one of the Senators to approve repealing the MNIB legislation; Skeeta Chitan, legal representative of the group, an attorney attached to the law firm Mitchell and Co, which lists Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell as a founder; and Amanda Jack, representing the community of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, and currently the Returning Officer for that constituency.
Senator Thomas, also serving as Minister for Agriculture, was unable to list the qualifications and experience of each member of the Group who will be paid. The Group’s Terms of Reference is to establish an appropriate Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with the capability and capacity to support the transformation of the agricultural sector by overcoming the current deficiencies and gaps in the logistics of food, including, but not limited to transportation, storage, preservation and distribution, and the export of agricultural produce and products.
