Minister: Shake-up coming soon in Ministry of Agriculture

Some employees of the Ministry of Agriculture will soon be getting a shakeup, with regard to their roles and responsibilities.{{more}}

According to Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar, there are certain employees in the ministry who are not efficient in their day-to-day duties and it his responsibility to ensure that “all hands are on deck”.

“Within the Ministry, and I want you to note this, there are certain persons who have adopted an observations status, where the very hands on approach that is needed in this very critical time by many persons in the ministry, is not as forthcoming,” he said.

Caesar also said that in his very first week in the ministry he spoke with the senior members of staff regarding how the ministry functions and particularly to deal with the issue of decentralization of staffing.

“That has not yet been successful,” he said, adding that very soon, he will definitely for a second time, work along with the senior members of staff to ensure that the Ministry of Agriculture is working side by side with the farmers.

“It is all well and good to have a core farmers program and ‘Operation Cut Back’ and ‘Plant Back’ to be launched, but if the workers in the Ministry of Agriculture do not take full ownership and cooperate fully with this process, it will all be an exercise not worthwhile.

“I am not going to hide. I am not going to wait until somebody points hands at the ministry. I am telling you what is going on inside of the ministry and that the ministry is in a critical need of a shake-up,” he added.

The Minister also stressed that persons need to take into consideration that the Ministry is bigger than the Minister of Agriculture and every single worker there.

“When we come to work on a daily basis and we sit in our chairs and do not go out there and meet with the farmers, we are bringing poverty to the nation, and I will not sit down as the area representative of a constituency that is predominantly an agriculture constituency and sit idly by and allow technocrats to misguide and mislead a very important process,” said Caesar.

A stern Caesar said that he can lead the process of implementing the many operations within the agriculture sector, but “all hands must be on deck.”(AA)