Amid a shortage that has significantly impacted farmers, some banana box arrived in Saint Lucia on Tuesday morning.
A shipment of 8,500 boxes came from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, marking a crucial step in addressing the ongoing shortage and prompting Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere to express relief.
Saint Lucia expected another 12,000 boxes from Miami on the same day.
The Agriculture Minister also told reporters that some boxes left in Jamaica could arrive on Friday.
“So if all goes well, by the end of this week, we should have almost 37,000 boxes on Island,” Prospere explained.
A box shortage occurred amid increased banana and plantain production as farmers recovered after the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Bret in June last year.
The Agriculture Minister recalled that because of the storm, farmers could not harvest.
However, the box shortage occurred as they were producing a surplus.
Windward Islands Packaging Company Ltd (WINERA), which produces the boxes, experienced a breakdown of its 50-year-old machine.
The company ordered a replacement from China, and installation was underway.
In addition, the Agriculture Minister said he learned that WINERA might obtain material to manufacture the boxes this week.
Do not let this happen again, put contingencies in place. Maybe someone should look at this as an avenue for investment locally.
They made us believe that they could have managed these things, that they could do better but it is all becoming clearer and clearer. We were duped, cricked, fooled. All smoke and mirrors. Wake up Lucians.