By Emmanuel Joseph

Health authorities say food manufacturing and packaging plant, Hill Milling Company Limited is expected to get the green light to reopen shortly.

The news from Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Arthur Phillips came on Friday afternoon, just over three months after environmental health officials closed the Haggatt Hall, St Michael company and dumped more than $500 000 in food items because of a rat infestation.

Although he declined to estimate a timeframe for the resumption of operations, Dr Phillips said he was comfortable Hill Milling was on track to get back to business soon.

He told Barbados TODAY that the dumping, which was done in stages, is now complete and the plant has done most of what it was required to do.

An inspection by health officers will be done to verify that all the recommended actions were completed.

“There is training, which must have been conducted yesterday. That is essentially it at this point. We would have had meetings with them and it helped to clarify that we were on the same page and we have the same goals,” health official stated.

“We are comfortable that they are improving and that they are on track to be back in business soon. I don’t have a timeframe. Our end goal is to ensure they are operating in a way that is safe to them and to the public and to public health standards. So, we believe that there is not much left to be done, and they are committed to doing all that is required.”

Dr Phillips said there would have to be a final sanitising of the plant, which will be done by Hill Milling staff under the supervision of environmental health officers, “once we have signed off on everything else”.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company Richard Ashby had complained that while waiting for the health authorities to give him the all-clear to reopen, staff had been sent on leave; his local and overseas customers were without products, which include rice, sugar, corn curls, oats, peas, beans and snacks; and the major revenue-earning portion of his business, exports, was in jeopardy.

“I sell to 4 000 shopkeepers…supermarkets, gas stations, minimarts…you know, people out in the country who sell from their windows, their back doors. But that’s not my big stuff, my big stuff is exports. So you are not only affecting small shops in Barbados but you are affecting the big shops in Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, Miami, New York and St Kitts,” the business owner had previously told Barbados TODAY, noting that the affected aspects of the plant included milling, packaging and producing.  emmanueljoseph@barbados.bb

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A non-profit organisation in Barbados is one of three beneficiaries of a new climate-smart agriculture pilot project to address food insecurity in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) through funding from the Sony Music Global Social Justice Fund and the support of agriculture technology company Fork Farms has granted 12 vertical indoor hydroponics systems to the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research, Education and Design (WIRRED) in St Andrew as well as to the governments of Anguilla and the Cayman Islands.

The CCSA pilot includes five Flex Farms for each of the two governments and two units for WIRRED, a non-profit organisation and charity born out of the regeneration of the 277-acre Walkers Reserve. 

According to Josh Mahlik, partnership development director of Fork Farms, a Flex Farm is a mobile hydroponic farm that can grow lettuce, greens, herbs and a variety of other foods on-site, quickly, efficiently, affordably and all year long.  

One Flex Farm can grow 25 pounds of lettuce every 28 days. The farm requires only nine square feet of space and a standard electrical outlet for operation. Compared to traditional agriculture, the Flex Farm requires zero food miles to be travelled, provides 45 times more food production, and uses 98 per cent less water and land.

Both units for WIRRED will be housed at Walkers Reserve, a former sand quarry that is now the largest regeneration project of its kind in the region and a model for climate adaptation and resilience. Training will be done with members of the Walkers Reserve’s team and community stakeholders, increasing their knowledge of and skills in regenerative agricultural techniques.

WIRRED and the other two beneficiaries of the pilot project will receive support to operate the Flex Farms and will monitor production yields for a one-year period. 

Racquel Moses, chief executive officer of the CCSA noted that The World Food Programme and Caribbean Livelihoods Survey – May 2023 shows that 52 per cent of the population in the English-speaking Caribbean remains food insecure. 

“Everyone should have access to fresh, nutritious, locally grown food, especially in the global South and for vulnerable groups like youth and women. This is a climate and social justice goal we hold in common with Fork Farms and the Sony Music Global Social Justice Fund,” she said.

“We applaud these islands for their leadership and ongoing efforts to bolster food security and are delighted to support them with this initiative.”

The CCSA plans to expand the project to other countries and has called on individuals, organisations, and stakeholders to join them in promoting food security, sustainability, and social inclusion in the Caribbean. (PR/BT)

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The Guyana government has banned the use of chemicals to clean drainage calls across the country, after concerns were raised by residents of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara. After the concern was raised raised by a resident during a ministerial outreach led by Prime Minister Mark Phillips, the Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha made government’s position ...