Call on PM to intervene in potato export issue

The Association of Farmers has appealed to the prime minister to intervene over its attempt to export 64 tons of Estima type potatoes to Belgium.

The association had been stopped from going ahead with the exportation by the agriculture department, which claims it would have breached a contract for the exportation of 6,000 tons of potatoes to Holland.

The association had originally planned to export the 64 tons to the UK, but decided to send them to Belgium after the UK price offer was too low.

Following a meeting yesterday evening between association representative Peter Axisa and a member of the prime minister`s secretariat, the association has cancelled a meeting for the exporters scheduled for today.

The meeting had been called to enable them to decide whether to accept a government offer to export their produce to the Netherlands instead of Belgium for the same guaranteed price as under the Dutch contract.

Angry farmers described how some of them received a telephone call to go to the grading station at Ta` Qali to sign a declaration authorising the department to export the potatoes to Holland.

The growers refused.

Meanwhile, the potatoes, packed into three containers, were yesterday still in the vicinity of the potato grading station at Ta` Qali.

The association yesterday filed a protest in court over the government`s action to stop the export.

Mr Axisa said most of the 29 farmers forming the association also exported to the Netherlands.

"All we are trying to do is tap new, additional markets for our potatoes," he said, adding he was bitterly disappointed with the government`s action.

"The growers have lost all the enthusiasm we had rallied after the government had encouraged farmers to join forces and export their crops."

Mr Axisa said he disagreed that there were no other markets for locally grown potatoes. In fact, he insisted that potatoes would fetch better prices in Belgium than the Netherlands.

He denied claims by the department that until Saturday he was saying the potatoes being packed were destined for the UK market, but changed his mind on Tuesday morning. The decision had been changed two weeks ago, he said.

In a statement last night, the Ministry of Agriculture said that in order to safeguard the interests of the 29 growers who had signed a contract to export their potatoes to the UK at a non-guaranteed price, the Agriculture Service and Rural Development Section had offered various remedies to Mr Axisa:

¤ the 64 tons of Estima type potatoes could be exported under the Dutch contract at a guaranteed price;

¤ the three containers could be placed in cold storage; or

¤ the potatoes could be removed from the containers and placed in a suitable store to avoid damaging the crop.

The ministry said that despite this effort to find a practical solution that would avoid putting the contract for the exportation of 6,000 tons of potatoes at risk, Mr Axisa failed to reply.

The ministry added that Mr Axisa was well aware that the potatoes, locked in containers without refrigeration, would be damaged and would have to be thrown away.