St James farmers to benefit from greenhouse repairs

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, has committed to repairing greenhouses in Mafoota, St James, that were damaged during the passage of Hurricane Melissa in October.

This is in addition to infrastructure upgrade, which will be done under the Second Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI-II) Greenhouse Cluster and Infrastructure Upgrade project.

The project, which is being undertaken through an investment of $880.4 million, will see the construction of 95 greenhouses in community clusters in Clarendon, Manchester, St Ann and St Catherine.

Commending the resilience of Mafoota’s farmers, Green noted that even in the immediate aftermath of the category-five hurricane, growers were already in their fields assessing losses and preparing for the replanting process.

The Minister also pointed out that despite the hurricane damage sustained in the area, farmers were also trying to salvage produce to share with passers-by.

“And as such, under this REDI-II project, we are going to be upgrading their infrastructure, and we’re going to be spending about $42 million rehabilitating and upgrading the existing post-harvest infrastructure. We’re going to restore their aggregation, storage, and distribution capacity,”Green outlined.

He was addressing the official contract-signing ceremony for the REDI-II project held on Tuesday (February 24) at the Ministry’s Hope Gardens headquarters in St Andrew.

Other upgrades to the facility include restoration of existing solar-power equipment; supply and installation of four 1,000-gallon water storage tanks; gutter placement works; construction of storage room; reinstallation of septic tank and completion of on-site sewerage system.

As for the work that is not covered by the REDI-II programme, Green said, “We’re going to fix the greenhouses… because I told the team when I went down there, I saw the damage to the greenhouses, and we’re going to fix [them].”

“Also, there’s some work that needs to be done on their water catchment. It is operational but it has some challenges,” he added.

The infrastructure upgrades are expected to benefit approximately 124 individuals in the Mafoota Agriculture Cooperative.

The REDI-II Greenhouse Clusters and Cooperative Infrastructure Upgrade Project is being completed in collaboration with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), The World Bank, Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and bauxite companies – Jamalco, Windalco and Discover Bauxite.

Construction is expected to begin in March 2026, and is estimated to be completed within six months, after which a six-month liability period will go into effect.

- JIS News

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