Work to start on Annotto Bay agro-economic zone

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, J.C. Hutchinson, has said work is to get under way in early 2017 on the construction of an agro-economic zone in Annotto Bay, St Mary.

He said the facility, among others to be established across the island, will provide a guaranteed market for agricultural produce.

"We are looking at putting a structure in place where we have a complex ... where we have grading, packaging, processing, drying facilities, abattoir, and cold storage - everything run by solar energy - so that when you have produce to sell, you have a market," he said.

Hutchinson was addressing a meeting of the Seville Benevolent Society Production and Marketing Organisation last Friday at the Fantasy Beach in Priory, St Ann.

He said another component of the agro-economic zone is that waste left over from processing will be converted into fertiliser or animal feed, which will be sold back to the farmers at a significantly reduced cost.