Agriculture and Government Offices in Trinidad and Tobago: Initial Take

As I mentioned before, I've been exploring agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago and have been trying, with some difficulty, to get the information to get started. In doing so, I admit that even the patient person I have become has become a bit frustrated by the entire thing. What do I mean? I live in San Fernando. There are offices in San Fernando. So, it makes sense that I should be able to do things in the offices located near where I live.

Right? Wrong.

The Ministry of Agriculture

Understandably, I first went to the Ministry of Agriculture here in San Fernando, as pictured at top left. It's conveniently located near the San Fernando Wharf, probably for fishermen, as few if any people do agriculture of note in San Fernando. Still, they should have information that someone like myself would need - in this case, aquaculture. I also needed to get a new copy of my farmer's license, since somewhere in the shuffle of my life it disappeared (I have the photocopy as well as a picture of it).

I went into the building, and the security guard was trying to find out where I was going. I didn't know where I was going. She, being a nice person, gave me some pointers. I headed upstairs and spoke to a person, in front of the entire office because of the way the place was set up, about getting a new copy of my agricultural license. I was informed that they only signed the cards in San Fernando, and that I would have to go to the office in Princes Town. I smiled, and spoke to the audience: 'That must make people so pleased when they come here!'. I was rewarded with a few smiles.

Then I proceeded to ask about aquaculture, and I was told that I should also look for the information in Princes Town. Apparently Princes Town has my name on it and San Fernando thinks I should move there... I head back downstairs. The security guard, once again, interceded and called upstairs so that I could get an information package on aquaculture... one door away from where I originally was. Without a door. The gentleman was busy stamping things, asked me to take a seat, and then proceeded to unlock a rather ordinary looking filing cabinet and handed me a manila envelope that was comfortably full. At least I got something that had some physical weight.

Back downstairs, I thanked the security lady profusely and wandered outside to the smell of stale beer and rum mixed with the occasional whiff of the abattoir and fish market. There I stood, with information in my hand and half a mission done.

Or so I thought.

At the Rituals within Courts (!) at the bottom of High Street, I sat down with a cup of coffee - eager to see what treasure of information the Ministry of Agriculture had endowed me with. I came to realize that the paper would have been better left as trees - the only interesting bit of information in there was about how to tell whether you have the right soil for a pond. Someone apparently did a study on this, and had painstaking instructions on how to check if your soil is good for a pond. It's an official test. Here's how you do it:

1. Get some of the soil in your hand.
2. Wet it. With water.
3. Squeeze it firmly.
4. Let go and see if the soil in your hand maintains it's shape.

To me, this seemed like being asked to read the instructions on the side of a box of toothpicks. We all should know what clay is - right? Apparently not.

Have I made it to Princes Town yet? No, I haven't. I'm not sure I want to go that far and have my time wasted with this sort of information - or worse, being told that I have to go to another office. There's a part of me that wants to leap out and strangle this sort of bureaucracy, but then - it explains quite a few things about the Ministry of Agriculture. Such as why, even when I was told to go to Princes Town, the website says I should go to the head office in Port of Spain to get the forms to fill out to become an aquaculturist. Apparently the Agriculture license is a separate license. Yet another task. Right?

Mental Note: Call people first. Get directions on what needs to be done. Don't expect cohesion of data and ability between offices. It doesn't work that way. Should it? This minority of one remains puzzled.

Agricultural Development Bank (ADB)

I checked out the ADB at Trinidad and Tobago's Trade and Investment Convention, 2008, and I was told by a woman who worked in the San Fernando office that I should stop in and get some help. Today, I did. I walked in, got funny stares from all sorts of people, was asked for my ID card by a security woman, then directed to the loans department upstairs.

I didn't want a loan. In fact, I don't even know if I need one. What I do know is that I ran into the familiar face from the Convention who quickly ushered me into someone's office. That was nice, but I spent less than 3 minutes in that cubicle - I was handed a number for someone in Longdenville that she said I would have to go to talk to. Bye.

Talk about wasting time. Let's take stock here.

The Ministry of Agriculture told me in person to check out Princes Town, but their website says Port of Spain. The ADB wants me to go to Longdenville.

You know what I want to do? Dig a pond and start. In my mind, this all seems a very tedious process that is meant to alienate people interested in doing agric/aquaculture. For one, the forms could be on the Internet - something that FastForward would probably agree with. Heck, with this modern technology I have at my disposal I could email my form in within a document that they could print and make happy sounds about - but that isn't necessarily the way to go. They want to interview people, too, but come on - the form could be printed out on a computer.

The best information I have gotten so far are from other people doing what I want to do. The Ministry of Agriculture and the ADB don't seem intent on helping anyone willing to track down cheese on roller skates. Maybe I approached this all wrong, but there really isn't even a guideline for how to approach it.

So what will I do? Good question. I'll bumble along, waste time and money, all so that I can... do what, exactly? The phrase, "Better to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission" comes to mind. Indeed, it's not a surprise that the farmers I know do just that... they play the system like cheat codes on a Playstation.

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