The Medicinal Cannabis Authority has opened a new office in North Leeward, providing traditional cultivators in that area with support.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Monday, Area representative for North Leeward, Carlos James noted that traditional cultivators in North Leeward have been at the forefront of cannabis production even before decriminalized legislation came into being and Government wants to ensure that these traditional cultivators are given the support needed.
“…because this is the home of Cannabis, we should bring the resources, the infrastructure here to our farmers in this community …we ought to have a space where our farmers can come and get the necessary applications and guidance on how we are moving the industry forward…a hub where they can obtain information and share knowledge with the policy makers in the medicinal cannabis industry,” the Minister remarked.
Meanwhile, farmers were officially given letters for land. According to Chairman of the Medicinal Cannabis Authority Dr. Jerrol Thompson, approximately 100 acres of lands were procured by the government for traditional cultivators.
“We have cut it up, we’ve surveyed it…today we want to start that process of formally handing over the letters in order to get the deed for those particular lands,” Dr. Thompson said.
The office will function in a dual role as the Farmers’ Support Company will also operate from there, providing vegetable and root-crop farmers with fertilisers, seeds, information and technical support in addition to the support offered through the Ministry of Agriculture.
