Monday, January 22, 2007

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: With nine host countries and Dominica to become a single domestic space during the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup (CWC), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is beefing up security in its plant quarantine unit. This is in an effort to stave off potential disease threats.

“World Cup is going to present us with some challenges, and these, hopefully, will be met head on. We are looking at increasing the staff compliment in the Plant Quarantine Unit to fully cover any aspects that might be a real challenge for us,” explained Everton Hunte, Senior Agricultural Assistant, Plant Quarantine.

In an attempt to boost the manpower within this unit, Mr Hunte explained that senior officers trained in this area, as well as officers from the animal quarantine unit , plant pathology and entomology , are currently being co-opted .

This collaboration, according to Michael James, Senior Agricultural Assistant, is aimed at ensuring that the island’s three main ports - Port St. Charles in the north, the Bridgetown Harbour and the Grantley Adams International Airport, as well as the unit’s Crompton Street offices, are adequately covered.

Pointing out that the two quarantine units - animal and plant - will virtually be working in unison to form an Agricultural Quarantine Unit for CWC; Mr James further explained that throughout the Ministry various officers had received training from the Regional Animal Health Association of Guyana, as well as the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry.

“So, we have pulled those officers in who have had experience in both animal and plant quarantine and they will be used to compliment the officers that we currently have on the ground. In addition to that, we have senior officers who would have been trained to that level also, who will be asked to help out where the situation warrants,” he underscored.

In terms of training, Mr James noted that most of the officers had been drawn from the other two branches of plant protection – plant pathology and entomology – where they would have had basic training in these disciplines. “What we hope to do over the next couple of weeks is to make them more au fait with the actual work of quarantine, so that they can actively work in this sphere.”

While the Ministry is putting steps in place to protect our borders, officials have underlined the fact that because the islands will become one domestic space for CWC, this will not negate Barbados’ quarantine laws.

“It is important to get the message out there to fans coming into Barbados from within the region, as well as extra-regionally, that because it is a single domestic space for CWC …this does not go for the things that they are bringing into Barbados. It does not go for fruit and vegetables, it does not go for meat and meat products - you still have to be aware of our quarantine laws.

“So, don’t take it for granted that just because you are coming to the Caribbean it means that once you land somewhere you can bring in whatever you want to bring in – it will not work that way,” he warned.

Making it clear that steps will be taken to ensure that persons travelling to Barbados will be made aware of our quarantine laws via links between the Ministry’s website and CWC’s, James noted that over the past three to five years Barbados had witnessed the emergence of between 14 to 15 new pests.

With visitors expected to come from all over the world, the agricultural official intimated that this would only serve to compound the problem, as persons would be likely to “try a thing” in an effort to bring in restricted items.

James, who also spoke to the fact that the presence of different pests within the various islands also added to the complexity of the problem, said his department would be pulling out all the stops to ensure that the island is protected.

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