Ministry probing deforestation

THE Agriculture Ministry is investigating reports of farmers clearing forests and other foliage on state lands for agriculture.

Parliamentary secretary in the ministry Avinash Singh made this disclosure to reporters after the launch of UWI's Tech Agri Expo at the university's St Augustine campus on Friday.

Singh said, "The ministry is well aware of some of these effects against the environment."

Told about reports of social media images of farmers allegedly carrying out deforestation, Singh said Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat had posted some images on social media during a recent visit to Tableland.

"What he noticed was some deforestation taking place by some pineapple farmers," he said. Singh said Rambharat, the Commissioner of State Lands and Conservator of Forests "are all on top of this." He added, "They have launched an investigation to try and identify persons and/or activities that have been taking place."

Singh said the population could rest assured that if there is any action to be taken against these people, that will happen.