Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Floyd Green, says emphasis will be placed on increasing the number of community groups of traditional growers participating in the Alternative Development Programme.

The programme aims to prevent and

eliminate the illicit cultivation of ganja and channel the process through

legal streams.

The 1998 Action Plan, adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly, provides for the inclusion of such a programme

through specifically designed rural development measures consistent with

sustained national economic growth.

“What we will be doing in 2020, is looking for more community groups of traditional growers that we will engage and provide the technical support for them to transition into the medicinal marijuana industry,” Green said, as he addressed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, January 14.

“Already, we have a group from St Ann that has approached us and a group in Kingston and a group from south west St. Elizabeth,” he added.

Green also mentioned that a cannabis pilot project has started in Accompong, St Elizabeth.

“We have gone in there with the team

to provide technical support. The programme focuses on community groups, so it

starts with a group of ganja farmers, and we would have gone in and provided

the seeds, provided reduced requirements and we have gone through a learning

process. I would say the pilot has been a success,” he said.