Soil Conservation Unit is overextended and underperforming, its head has admitted, following a resident’s complaint of waiting four years for tractor ploughing services.
Speaking at Wednesday night’s St Andrew edition of the Ideas Forum at The Alleyne School, Officer in Charge of the unit, Kenny Ward, acknowledged shortcomings in the agency’s delivery and said resources were being spread too thin across the island.
“When I first went to Soil Conservation in 1989, all of our efforts and all the works at Soil Conservation Unit were concentrated in the Scotland District,” Ward said. “Now what we have today is that we are really all over the island carrying out our works. We are asked to work for different ministry departments and in some cases, for example in Lower Burney, we just actually cleared something like 22 acres of land in St Lucy.
“We are ploughing from St George, St Michael, St Thomas, St James and all over the place. So the actual implements that we have really and truly cannot suffice the entire island. That’s the truth.”
Ward said he was “sympathetic with the gentleman who said that he asked for the services or paid for them over four years ago”, and admitted: “We need to step up and I agree. We need to improve in a lot of areas at Soil Conservation Unit, primarily for the Scotland District. I agree with that. It would be wrong for me to stand here in front of you in St Andrew and say otherwise. But the point is that I am telling you that we are stretched in a lot of ways.”
He described a similar case he encountered when he took over the unit four years ago, involving a request that had been lost “somewhere in the books” for five years.
“I don’t know if this might be a case like that, but I agree that we need to step up and we need to have some improvements in the area of dealing with the issues that some people face in St Andrew,” he said.
Ward said changes were expected soon to refocus the unit’s work on the Scotland District, reversing the trend of operating across the country.
“I hope that the benefits will be realised in the parish of St Andrew once again,” he added. (SZB)
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