SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Lenworth Fulton and head of St Elizabeth’s JAS branch Kayon Whyne are urging that the interests of farmers on Holland Estate lands be protected as a matter of priority.

Their calls follow last month’s controversy related to reports of inappropriate management of the land, which led to JC Hutchinson being dropped as minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries and transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister.

Fulton and Whyne said their concerns were even more relevant because of general parliamentary elections set for September 3.

Fulton told the Jamaica Observer that while he supported every effort to ensure proper procedures and good management, “we must make sure we do not throw out the baby with the bath water”.

And according to Whyne, “my fear is that we might end up with the farmers suffering because of bureaucracy”.

In a statement indicating action against Hutchinson last month, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ordered that the “Holland Estate lands should be immediately turned over to the Agricultural Investment Corporation (AIC) without prejudice to the small farmers who would have entered into occupancy arrangements in good faith”.

Prior to the prime minister’s statement, Hutchinson was accused of cronyism and nepotism in relation to arrangements to manage the estate which was previously dedicated to sugar cane production but is now occupied by small farmers.

The management arrangements included the setting up of a company, Holland Producers Limited (HPL), which subleased lands to farmers, and collected money which it said was to be spent on security, utilities, removal of stray animals, and for fencing the property.

Reports say 184 small farmers producing a variety of crops, including tubers and vegetables, currently occupy much of the 2,400 acre State-owned Holland Estate, which was previously leased by J Wray & Nephew Limited through its subsidiary Appleton Estate for sugar cane production.

Holland Estate, adjacent to the world-famous Holland Bamboo, falls within Hutchinson’s St Elizabeth North Western constituency – a seat he has held since 1997. He is expected to be nominated tomorrow to again contest the seat in the upcoming general election.

Appleton, which is now in the process of exiting sugar production, gave up the lease at Holland Estate last year.

Fulton and Whyne told the Observer in separate telephone interviews that while it was necessary to ensure probity and good governance in managing the estate, it was important to ensure farmers remained on the land.

And also, that Hutchinson’s dream of an agro-economic zone with built-in marketing and value-added arrangements was not lost.

Fulton said that while there were “missteps” in the attempt to manage the Holland Estate farm land through Holland Producers Limited, he was convinced that “it was not a fraudulent scheme” but “a good, altruistic project that was trying to help farmers”.

Fulton insisted that the “missteps” were appropriately dealt with by the prime minister, but now, said he, the project and the farmers should be protected.

Both Fulton and Whyne appeared to suggest that the “missteps” resulted from a desire to avoid bureaucratic delays and other hurdles.

In fact, said Fulton, he believed that the attempted small farm management system at Holland Estate should be “documented and developed fuller” as a possible model for cooperatives in Jamaica.

“This project was not meant to defraud anybody… we can regroup and rebuild this project,” he said.

Pointing to the delays and frustrations often associated with the implementation of projects, Whyne fretted that bureaucracy could end up “pushing the people off the land”.

Like Fulton, she said that the failed management attempts at Holland could in fact be streamlined and corrected to become “a blueprint” for helping small farmers to organise themselves in productive groups.

Whyne and Fulton voiced hope that whichever party wins on September 3 will ensure farmers stay on the Holland Estate land and that the “vision” of an agro-economic zone is realised.

In outlining plans for a major agro-economic zone at Holland, back in September 2018, Hutchinson spoke of a complex of farms ranging from five acres to larger acreages.

The farms would operate in conjunction with storage, grading, drying, packaging, and processing facilities aimed at preventing market gluts and providing value-added products.

In announcing the decision to relieve Hutchinson of his responsibilities for agriculture and fisheries and his reassignment to the Office of the Prime Minister, Holness also ordered that:

(1) The Holland Estate lands should be immediately turned over to the AIC without prejudice to the small farmers who would have entered into occupancy arrangements in good faith.

(2) Steps should be taken to terminate any arrangements that allow for non-farm commercial operations on the lands. Any future commercial opportunities on these lands should be advertised and tendered in accordance with Government of Jamaica (GoJ) guidelines.

(3) The Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) is to immediately cease all land transactions that may be in progress including divestments and leases, pending a review by the Cabinet Office to ensure that the procedures followed for proposed transactions are in accordance with GoJ policies.

(4) The SCJ is to provide a historical listing of all land transactions over the last decade, including divestments and leases, with a disclosure of counter-parties and beneficial owners.

(5) Minster (Audley) Shaw should review the operation and governance of the Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) to ensure that there are no other undisclosed connected-party arrangements in the implementation of any of its programmes, and where such relationships are discovered, to take the necessary action to ensure they are removed.