LAST month, the Ministry of Agriculture headed by Joel Morgan, Minister of the highest grade, sent a Cuban hog specialist to teach our farmers how to best raise pigs and fatten them for market. The whole exercise was intended to increase farmer's production to ensure adequate sustainable supplies of pork product in the local market.
With Easter over and Holy Communion period setting upon us, a little roast pork to celebrate a time of passage for our children is a grand part of our culture. Families and friends gather and celebrate the rights of passage of our sons and daughters as children of God. However, this year we will have to settle for a little 'Gro manze' for Holy Communion.
As the Cuban expert lorded over our farmers and explained how to wash down a pig to keep it clean, how to make him make love at the right time of the night under the right moon to get the most baby piglet, therefore the highest return from the effort, the Cuban expert forgot to mention: the food! How do we feed pigs and fatten them and get them to the market on time when there is no pig meal and the sacks at SMB are being filled with only 'Lapousyer ros' and labeled "Pig Grower Feed Meal".
The Cuban expert, who has schooled well in Cuba and an expert in managing under stress and lack of resources being from a Communist State, would make Rene proud. It is alleged he told the farmers, if you are short on pig meal grower, take a picture of some hotel slop and meal grower with a digital camera, then post the picture in the pig style. As the pig sees the picture, he will fatten.
In fact, if you use good quality gloss paper, it will make the hotel slop look real good and the pig will fatten in less than 6 months so you can meet the Holy Communion deadline for the market.
Having said that, what if we did not loose $4.5 Million in a bogus housing contract, and we could use that 4.5 Million Dollars for stocking pig meal components, would not our farmers have a better chance at fattening our pigs and getting the meat to market on time?
Or alternatively, we could import gloss paper from Singapore for the pictures of pig food. Maybe if the Minister would pose next to the hotel slop, the pigs may be encouraged to get fat faster, since their wellbeing falls under his Ministry.
It seems the pigs and our farmers have no hope!