WESTERN BUREAU – Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke, in a sharp response to South Trelawny Member of Parliament Devon McDaniel’s call for his impeachment, says the voters who put McDaniel in office should be “impeached” for their poor judgement in voting for the MP.

“The people of South Trelawny should be impeached for sending somebody like him to Parliament – somebody who is ignorant of world events and trends, who understands nothing about international trade… The people should be impeached for sending him to Parliament as their representative,” an obviously angry Clarke lashed out.

McDaniel, unimpressed with the handling of the agriculture portfolio, had called for Clarke and his junior minister Errol Ennis to be removed from office. The ministry, he argued, had not been proactive enough to avert the European Union’s (EU’s) proposed 37 per cent reduction in sugar prices.

“They had 10 years to prepare for it and they did absolutely nothing, and now they are playing a cat and mouse game. They are now acting as if it came to us overnight,” said McDaniel.

The ministry, he suggested, could have looked at other market options outside of the EU or provide a more economical means of producing sugar.

Another option he argued, was to consume more locally-produced sugar.

“We can produce and sell to ourselves because, as we speak, we are importing sugar; so maybe it might be prudent not to export anymore to them but we would be in a position to supply ourselves,” said the young MP, who came to office on an Opposition Jamaica Labour Party ticket.

But Clarke maintained that McDaniel simply did not understand the issues.

“There is nothing that we can do, . Our foreign affairs people are out there negotiating,” he said. “There is nothing that the ministry of agriculture could have done, and as a matter of fact there is hardly anything we can do but continue to negotiate.”

Jamaica, like other members of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group that export sugar to Europe, has expressed concern over the EU’s proposal, which was unveiled in Brussels in June. The unions also marched on the EU’s Kingston offices to register their displeasure.