Bodles Research Station still operational
Dear Editor,
In my letter ‘Repatriate, restore, reopen’, published in the Jamaica Observer on September 21, 2021, I inadvertently included Bodles Research Station in St Catherine among the list of closed research stations.
The research station is still in operation and, in fact, was upgraded and featured in the 2021 budget presentation of the then Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green as part of the Government’s renewed initiative on improving research capacity and the flagship of agricultural research in Jamaica.
Also included on the list was Orange River, which is not closed but functions at a far below normal level, with no livestock operation.
The Montpelier research station has received additional input.
In regard to the Grove Place Research Station, this property was handed over to Alcan in 1996 for mining of its bauxite reserves and was to be reclaimed for agricultural use under the 1948 agreement with the Government. However, with the closure of Alcan, the property is not operational as a research station.
Dudley C McLean II Mandeville, Manchesterdm15094@gmail.com
