Land Settlement Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ministry of Youth Development and National Service for the Implementation of the Youth Agricultural Homestead Programme.
The MoU Signing Ceremony which took place on Tuesday at the Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain, provides the framework to govern the implementation of the Youth Agriculture Homestead Programme at the Chatham Dairy Farm, as well as establish a Framework for the National Service Complex at the Beach Camp Facility at Palo Seco.
The MoU signifies the integral role that all parties will play in effectively facilitating and expediting this initiative, which is geared toward developing the country’s youth in the area of agriculture.
The statement provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development reads in full:
The MoU Signing Ceremony which took place on Tuesday (January 18, 2022) at the Government Campus Plaza, Port of Spain, provides the framework to govern the Implementation of the Youth Agriculture Homestead Programme at the Chatham Dairy Farm, as well as establish a Framework for the National Service Complex at the Beach Camp Facility at Palo Seco. The MoU signifies the integral role that all parties will play in effectively facilitating and expediting this initiative, which is geared toward developing the country’s youth in the area of agriculture.
This Memorandum of Understanding follows another MoU which was undertaken in October, 2021 between the Land Settlement Agency (LSA), under the remit of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service with respect to the Youth Agricultural Homestead Programme. The LSA has been tasked with the responsibility of facilitating Component 2 of the Programme, which involves developing the necessary infrastructure on lands that have been identified for use in the programme.
These lands comprise former Petrotrin lands located at Fyzabad Field Road, Chatham Dairy Farm, Kendall Dairy Farm in Palo Seco and agricultural lands at Valencia, Gran Couva, Point a Pierre, Todd’s Road, Lopinot and Santa Cruz. The lands will be vested in the LSA for the issuance of leases for two (2) acre plots. The expectation is that 150 of these plots will be allocated annually over the next three years starting in 2022.
Additionally, the LSA will offer land preparation services to potential young farmers such as the development of access roads, land clearing and site preparation, ancillary infrastructure such as electricity and water, starter homes and storage sheds, as well as offices for technical staff and procurement of equipment at an estimated cost of $246,800,000.00 over a three-year period starting in 2022.
Signatories at yesterday’s MoU signing included Mrs. Claire Davidson-Williams, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and Mr. Hazar Hosein, CEO of the Land Settlement Agency, Mr. Farook Hosein, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth Development and National Service and Mr. Armand Jackson, Chairman of the YAH Programme Coordinating Committee, Ministry of Youth Development and National Service (MYDNS).
Also present at the signing were the Honourable Foster Cummings, Minister of the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service, the Honourable Stuart Young, Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs, Mr. Michael A. A. Quamina, Chairman of the Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (PETROTRIN) as well as the Chair of the Palo Seco Agricultural Enterprises Limited (PSAEL) Advisory Committee.
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