Cabinet approves land repurposing; Agriculture Minister says no Worker will be disenfranchised

The country’s Agriculture Minister E.P Chet Greene has assured that land clearing developments at Friars Hill Road will not disenfranchise workers at the Dubar’s Agriculture Station, despite noise from the Opposition United Progressive Party.

The Cabinet has agreed to re-purpose several acres of land formally part of the Dunbar Agricultural Station into housing and commercial development lands.

The decision did not go down well with workers at Dubar’s Agriculture Station, who accused the government of taking away some of the land with the richest soil.

“Some workers at the station do not favor the government’s decision, but it is not their call to make. They will not be left without a place to work because the program allows for a replacement of land in other areas for agriculture development”, he said

Greene said the decision by the Cabinet was made several months ago in recognition of the Friar’s Hill Road area stretching all the way to the roundabout on North Shore Road being transformed into a combined residential and commercial space.

In keeping with this development, the Cabinet agreed that the lands that formerly formed part of the agricultural station should be turned over to the National Housing and Urban Renewal and Development Company (NHURDC) for housing development.

He said even after informing the workers, they continued to plant new crops, which signals a lack of respect for the government policy.

Some lands will also be made available to private-sector developers for commercial use.

The total acreage of lands involved in the transfer is 40 acres. This comes as the NHURDC is spearheading a ‘housing revolution’ in the country with developments taking part in several areas, including Oliver’s, Bolans/ Jennings, Lightfoot, and Paynters.

This is in response to a huge demand for quality homes in the country which NHURDC has been mandated to meet expeditiously and cost-effectively.