Cabinet appoints committee to ease food prices

Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Kazim Hosein presented letters of appointment to 14 people on Monday, making them members of the new Food Security and Food Prices Committee.

In a ministry release, Hosein said the cabinet-appointed committee will be chaired by Nirmalla Debysingh, CEO of the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco) and include experts in agriculture, economics, nutrition, trade and consumer advocacy, making up the membership.

Hosein said the committee was not merely a response to challenges facing food security and food prices but a strategic initiative to find sustainable solutions.

"The challenges before us are daunting," Hosein said. "Food inflation, exacerbated by global disruptions such as supply chain interruptions and geopolitical conflicts, has severely impacted our food security. Our reliance on imported food items, which costs us over $5 billion annually, further complicates this issue. This is compounded by rising global food prices and adverse weather conditions affecting agricultural productivity."

But Couva North MP Ravi Ratiram has decried the formation of the committee, calling it a gimmick.

"The PNM Government is once again attempting to hoodwink the population with this committee. It is nothing more than an election gimmick meant to distract from their failures," Ratiram said in an opposition media release on Wednesday.

Mentioning the agricultural multi-disciplinary voluntary committee that was formed in 2022 and two agri expos held to the tune of $20 million, Ratiram said the appointment of another committee was an admission of the PNM’s failure.

"Under their mismanagement, it is doomed to fail from the start," Ratiram said. "This latest move alongside the grandiose appointment of a special adviser to the Prime Minister on agriculture, exposes the Government’s continual ineptitude and their desperate attempt to cover up their own failures.”

He compared food prices under the PNM Government and the UNC/PP government, saying under the leadership of the opposition party, a basic basket of grocery items costs $109, as compared to the same basket today, which costs $189.

"(That is) a staggering 73 per cent increase," Ratiram said. "The PNM’s relentless fuel-price hikes (and) imposition of VAT on food items have not merely increased food prices, they have sent them skyrocketing,"

The committee's membership includes:

– Chairperson: Nirmalla Debysingh, CEO, Namdevco

– Vice-chairperson: Nigel Grimes, technical advisor, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries

Members:

– Ava Mahabir-Dass, permanent secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry

– Andy Mendez, acting supervisor, Customs and Excise Division, Ministry of Finance

– Hayden Hurdle, accountant, Port Authority of TT

– Keisha Roberts, UTT

– Dr Sharon D Hutchinson, faculty of agriculture, UWI

– Rajiv Diptee, past president of Supermarket Association

– Vernon Persad, Supermarket Association

– Roger Roach, president, TTMA

– Kavi Panday, CEO, Massy Stores (Trinidad)

– Siti Jones-Gordon, head of corporate affairs, Nestle TT

– Alpha Sennon, agricultural entrepreneur

– Maxslon Roberts, agricultural entrepreneur (Tobago)