Economy

Haiti: Community Mill Opens to Increase Agricultural Production

TIMONETTE, Haiti (defend.ht) - The first of a series of community mills was opened in the town of Timonette on Monday. Funded by the PetroCaribe fund, the opening of the mill also accompanied competitively priced fertilizer and tool distribution for farmers. President Michel Martelly and the Ambassador of Venezuela inaugurated the center that both expect to dramatically boost domestic agriculture production in the country.

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Inogirasyon Moulin Timonet by youtube/martellytv

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Tuesday, August 7, 2012: President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Michel Joseph Martelly, accompanied, among others, the Minister of Agriculture Jacques Thomas and Ambassador of Venezuela to Haiti, Pedro Antonio Canino González, visited, on Monday, the Artibonite Valley, where they celebrated the opening of a Community Center Mill in Timonette, the fifth communal section of Saint-Marc (Artibonite).

This center, equipped with three rice mills, a dozen tractors and other agricultural equipment, is part of a project, led by ODVA, to build a dozen similar centers in the region. Timonette, Desdunes and Verrettes are the top three recipients. The money is already available to build five more centers soon, with a capacity to process 2.2 to 3 metric tons per hour. This project is funded by a total of more than nine (9) million from the PetroCaribe program.

In the presence of local authorities and hundreds of peasants, the Head of State asked the Venezuelan ambassador to convey his thanks to President Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan people for their cooperation that undoubtedly gives concrete results for the people Haiti.

For his part, the Venezuelan Ambassador expressed his pride and satisfaction with the positive results provided by President Martelly through Haiti-Venezuelan cooperation. "On behalf of President Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan people, you can count on the cooperation of Venezuela ..." assured Mr. Pedro Antonio González Canino.

The Head of State took the opportunity to renew his commitment to take concrete action to meet the needs of the population. "My mission is to change the lives of Haitians, to have special attention to the poor long-suffering", said President of the Republic.

In Timonnette, 1500 bags of fertilizer are available to be sold at a reduced price to growers, and more than 9,000 agricultural tools (hoes, shovels, rakes, axes and machetes) for free distribution to farmers. In 2011, the President of the Republic had donated 100,000 bags of fertilizer to farmers. Efforts will therefore be increased for better marketing of rice.

"In a time, the Artibonite Valley will produce 125,000 tons of rice. In 2004, this figure was reduced to 65 000 tonnes. Today there is an increase to 90,000. But this is insufficient, because every year we import 350,000 tons of rice," lamented the Head of State who is committed to helping farmers increase rice production to compete with imported products.

Moreover, the President of the Republic promised to respond to various complaints from residents of St. Marc, as the dredging of the Salifoudre River, the installation of a football field (four carreaux) and the construction of a University (five carreaux).

Like many municipalities, including Verettes, Saut d'Eau, and Lascahobas and Belladère where infrastructure works are completed, the results are palpable in other parts of the country, said the President Martelly. "I decided to work for the Haitian people until the last day of my term," reassured the Head of State.

"Construction of the Community Centre Mill is a great achievement in the Artibonite Valley", welcomed the Minister Jacques Thomas. "This is extremely important to the value of [Natonal] rice," he said, asking the TNH to disseminate promotional sports about it. A management committee was established to ensure the sustainability of this community center.

Agriculture is a key factor in the vision of President of the Republic about the national production. In this regard, the provisions, such as strengthening the ODVA, are adopted to support the farmers.

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