PRIME Minister Andrew Holness says that the Alternative Development Programme (ADP), which will provide an avenue for small ganja farmers to benefit from the ganja industry, will start by March 2019.
The programme aims to prevent and eliminate the illicit cultivation of ganja and channel the process through legal streams. The pilot, which will commence in Accompong, St Elizabeth and Orange Hill in Westmoreland, will involve the farming of ganja to provide raw material for processors.
“It is a real fear that as that [ganja] industry emerges to become more corporatised, that the original ganja man, the original farmer could very well be left out of the gains and the benefits, when you were the ones singing the praises and the benefits from how long,” Holness said.
He was speaking at the Accompong Maroons' 281st celebration of the signing of the peace treaty with the British and to commemorate the birthday of legendary leader Cudjoe, on January 6 in the Maroon village, St Elizabeth.
The prime minister said he has received the commitment of the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Audley Shaw that the programme will begin within the first quarter of this year.
The programme will be administered by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries with oversight from the Cannabis Licensing Authority and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.