John Myers Jr., Farmers Weekly Coordinator

( L - R ) Johnson and Grant

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is insisting that the Government should absorb the debt of the 112-year-old Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and forego plans to sell a section of the organisation's property in downtown Kingston to offset some of the expenses.

Senator Anthony Johnson, the Opposition's Spokesman on Agriculture, said the property, which is equivalent to about two lots at the corner of North Parade and Church Street in downtown Kingston, bore historic significance for the farmers of Jamaica and should not be sold.

Senator Johnson, who is also a board member of the JAS, argued that the removal of a section of the JAS' property could cripple the organisation in the future. Speaking with Farmers' Weekly, the Opposition spokesman said the lots were being sold for approximately $30 million.

He contended that the JAS was being forced to sell the property to help pay off an outstanding debt to the state-owned Urban Development Corporation. Senator Johnson claimed the property would be used by the Government for the alleged construction of a monument as a tribute to the late Venezuelan liberator, Simón Bolívar.

Grant defends decision

But Senator Norman Grant, president of the JAS, has defended the decision to sell the property. According to Senator Grant, the JAS was not being forced to sell the property. He said there was a willing seller and a willing buyer and the proceeds from the proposed sale would go a far way in helping to settle the organisation's $85 million debt.

"The transactions have been approved by the board of management of the Jamaica Agricultural Society who have examined the matter in a critical and thorough manner," the JAS president noted in a release issued in response to the JLP's objection to the proposed sale. "The negotiations at present should lead to significant benefits to the society and by extension, the farmers of Jamaica," he added.

Senator Grant explained that the property has been unoccupied and underutilised for the past 15 years and insisted that the proposed sale was part of "efforts and strategy to reposition the society and strengthen the organisation for the continued development of our farmers."