Barbados has an adequate supply of land currently not in agriculture that is suitable for residential purposes.
This is according to Minister of Agriculture Haynseley Benn during a telephone interview with the SUNDAY SUNlast Thursday.
"There is so much marginal land and vacant spots in Barbados, we don't have to touch land in agriculture. If we attempted to fill in the gaps in the tenantries that aren't filled, we wouldn't have any shortage of land," the minister said.
He added that he had recently gone driving through many residential districts in St Michael and observed so many vacant plots in communitiesthat Government could easily achieve its plan to provide 500 houses.
"[While] there are not vast expanses of land acres," the Minister said, "there are many areas where you can easily find out who the owners are by going to the land-tax department and checking the records, offer to purchase or compulsorily acquire as they are not agricultural land [spots], they are situated where houses are already established.
"Barbados has enough land [plots] that are not considered agricultural land, that we consider to be marginal land, we don't have to raise any alarm about taking land out of agriculture to make house spots," he reiterated.
Agriculturalist and member of the Barbados Society of Technologists in Agriculture, Keith Laurie, agreed that Government needed to be practical in its land-use policy,and also responded to the recent notices in the Press of its intention of compulsorily acquiring 17 parcels of land.
Some of these lands encroach on active agricultural land, as was reported by at least two sources.
"The Prime Minister explained to me that they were taking very small portions of land that run along the tenantries where there are already roads, water and electricity supply," Laurie said.
"I don't have a problem with that," he said.
"That is practical stuff. You have to take a practical approach to these things. There will be [agricultural] areas you will have to give up.
"But what I also said to him is that there are many areas in Barbados that have never been in agriculture.
"On every sugar estate you will find rab land, which is sour grass and has never been in sugar cane.
"The land is rocky and good for building on. The only problem is the utilities supply", Laurie added.
The agriculturalist also indicated there were 18 000 house spots that had been approved, but not built on.
"There is need for in-fill [of houses in vacant lots]. Government should insist these plots be built on before they take land out of agriculture," Laurie said.
Please see also Page 14A.