Rambharat: 2 days for fete approval, years for land-lease renewals

Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat expressed shock that a fete promoter was able to receive a response from the ministry’s lands management division in a record two days to hold a fete in the sea, while local farmers are made to wait 15, 20 and 30 years for the renewal of land leases.

At a lease letter distribution to 14 farmers at the ministry in Chaguanas on Tuesday, Rambharat said the promoter, Karukera One Love’s (KOL), letter requesting the use of Maracas bay for its 2020 festival on February 21, had been received on February 4 and the approval was given on February 6.

“This is a fete that takes place at Maracas. I don’t have a problem with fete, but my point is this: if for a fete you could respond in two days, then for an agriculture parcel of land you should be able to respond in a day because nothing is more important than the welfare of the citizens of this country in relation to being able to have access to local food.

“All I have been saying is, do your work. Put in your eight hours, give priority to the people who have been waiting a very long time, don’t pick and choose, give priority to everybody, send the files to the minister and I will send the files to the Cabinet.”

He also noted that the agriculture ministry, by law, is responsible for the sea bed which falls under the category of state lands.

Rambharat said he was “very concerned” that he was not getting sufficient land lease files to take to Cabinet for approval.

“We have acknowledged that people have been waiting for a very long time. On average, the files that come to me show that people have been waiting maybe 30 years. Very, very rarely I get a file that is less than 20 years.”

He said, for the last three Cabinet meetings he had only taken five files for approval when this number should instead be 500.