by Mervin Matthew & Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service
 Fond Colé Inland Reception and Distribution
Center
The Banana Industry Trust on Wednesday, 7th July, 2010 officially commissioned the Fond Colé Inland Reception and Distribution Centre (IRDC). The facility was built with funds provided by the European Commission under its Special Framework of Assistance.
The $4,050,021 centre will be used for reception, consolidation and storage of fresh bananas for export as well as for training of farmers, cold storage, sale and distribution of production inputs and packaging materials.
In his brief remarks at the ceremony, Hon. Parliamentary Representative for the Roseau North Constituency, Julius Timothy said that one cannot over emphasize the importance of investing in agriculture.
 Hon. Parliamentary
Representative for the
Roseau North Constituency,
Julius Timothy
“Benefits of the investment in agriculture cannot be over emphasized in an economy such as ours. As Parliamentary Representative for the Roseau North Constituency, I wish to commend the Trust for the realisation for such a feat and trust that all stake holders, that is, farmers, service providers, agricultural exporters, Dominica Air and Sea Port Authority and the Dominica Banana Producers Limited make use of this facility for the continued growth and success of the banana industry.”
Hon. Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Matthew Walter, in his address at the ceremony, reminded the audience of the importance of agriculture to the nation’s development. He noted that Government will continue to pay attention to the development of the banana industry.
 Hon. Minister for
Agriculture and Forestry,
Matthew Walter
“You know of the investment that this Government has made specifically in the agriculture sector, in the banana subsector with respect to the five million dollars (XCD$5 000 000.00) that we spent during Hurricane Dean for the rehabilitation of the banana subsector. This does not include amounts that we got from foreign donor agencies. We also invested thousands of dollars to ensure that the impact of the sky rocketing of the price of fertilizer does not have so much of a negative effect on production and productivity and the sustainability of the banana subsector and by extension, the livelihood of the farmers of the country.”
Also addressing the ceremony was acting Prime Minister, Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore, in his remarks at the ceremony at Woodbridge Bay, encouraged the island’s farmers to become more competitive.
 Acting Prime Minister,
Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore
“And how do we become more competitive in an ever changing global market? It means, therefore, our produce must not only taste good, or look good but our pricing must be competitive. How do we ensure that those variables are met and are clearly understood? We have to therefore adhere to the fundamental principles of best practices.”
In the meantime, Head of the European Commission to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, His Excellency Valeriano Diaz, took time off to stress the importance of bananas not only to Dominica and the rest of the Windward Islands but to the rest of the world. He noted that bananas is the most popular fruit in the world with shoppers spending approximately forty billion East Caribbean dollars (XCD$40bn) making it the forth most important crop in the world after rice, wheat and maize.
Notwithstanding, there were challenges which faced Windward Island producers and the commissioning of the Fond Colé IRDC is part of the EU’s response to assist African, Caribbean and Pacific banana producing countries to deal with these challenges.
 Head of the European
Commission to Barbados and
the Eastern Caribbean,
His Excellency Valeriano Diaz
“However, in the last decade and a half, things have changed dramatically. The numerous challenges to the EU preferential scheme by the other banana producing countries under which the Windward Islands and Dominica benefitted from preferential access to the EU market versus other global competitors created increased obstacles and contributed to a significant decrease in banana production here and in the other Windward Islands.
In an effort to assist you in this difficult period, the European Union established a banana support package called the Special Framework of Assistance for traditional African, Caribbean and Pacific banana suppliers including Dominica in order to help them adjust to change in international competition over a ten year period. Some of these objectives include:
- to increase productivity
- to increase quality
- to assist with updating production and marketing to EU quality standards.
This Inland Reception and Distribution Center does just that.”
His Excellency Diaz said that it is his wish that center be put to full use.
“I hope that this facility will further contribute to the increase in the efficiency of the banana industry and to enhancing the quality of the fruit produced as we continue to work together towards maximising the returns of farmers and the well being on the surrounding communities.”
Here is the entire speech by His Excellency Valeriano Diaz in flash.
Address of His Excellency Valeriano Diaz in flash
Two other centers, one costing 2.8 million dollars and 1.6 million dollars, were commissioned on that same day at Portsmouth and at Marigot respectively. |
