Headlines:
| Politics in PMos |
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| Tuesday, 16 December 2008 | |
 Agriculture
Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton is moving swiftly to brush aside allegations of
political victimisation in the assistance given to farmers under a Government
sponsored initiative.Dr. Tufton defended the legitimacy of the Production and Marketing Organisations (PMOs) which operate around the country. Opposition members of the House of Representatives expressed suspicion about the operations of PMOs which are supposed to be assisted by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority. The issue drew sharp responses when Member of Parliament for South Manchester Michael Peart questioned whether there were political motives behind the work of the organisations. However in his response, Dr. Tufton said farmers are better organised under the initiative.  "Was a policy
directed from the Ministry to the RADA (Rural Agricultural Development
Authority) office in Mandeville, Manchester
that only members of the PMOs can be assisted by RADA?" asked Mr. Peart."The answer is a flat and absolute no ... what we have said as the policy position, is that we are always going to give preference to registered farmers because farmers need to be registered so we know who is out there and what they're doing," replied Dr. Tufton |