…coffee
Pres Ali’s always on the lookout for opportunities to develop our old Mudland. Remember him in Qatar – of all places –visiting a cattle farm that’s totally automated?? Your Eyewitness hopes his aides were taking notes!! If they could produce milk and beef in the desert, how much better can we do the same here!? As it was, he’d gone across to Costa Rica to receive an award for the role he’s playing in expanding the agricultural potential of the region – and then, voila!! – we see him taking a tour of a coffee plantation with an eye towards expanding our local production.
The irony of those who may’ve raised an eyebrow at the President thinking about coffee production, it would surprise them to learn that we were one of the earliest producers of this second most popular drink in the world!! Yes, surely, you guessed that tea is number one – if only because there’s more Chinese and Indians in the world than anyone else!! And the Brits enjoy their “cuppa” just because they ruled India!!
Anyhow, believe it or not, when the Dutch started their settlements in Berbice and Essequibo in the 17th century, they brought coffee plants from Yemen to launch one of the major crops to export to Europe.
Yep, Yemen!! Cause coffee was first used as drink over in nearby Ethiopia, and with the Turks and the Ottoman Empire getting hooked, Yemen supplied the fix!! And so, a couple of centuries later, the Dutch launched the coffee craze in European countries like Germany, that soon got addicted to the wonder bean.
You wonder why sugar production rose in importance at the same time?? Gotta have that sugar to make coffee go down, don’t you??
So, it’s a bit ironic there was such a fuss about us having our first Starbucks, when the coffee from Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo once supplied the coffee shops of Europe – where the intelligentsia met to plot their rebellions!! Did you ever wonder what crops were grown in those plantations in Berbice where Cuffy launched his 1763 rebellion?? More than likely it was coffee, rather than sugar!!
Nowadays, we know that one brave entrepreneur has relaunched Pomeroon as a coffee-growing locale – and there’s no reason why this effort can’t be replicated in other areas where coffee once ruled – like Victoria. Take the Canals Polders – all three of them. Coffee was not too long ago a very common produce, and the knowhow’s still there. Our varieties of coffee have a unique heritage – and flavour. And if Pres Ali can get behind the crop, surely, we can replace all the coffee imported into the region to give those tourists their morning.
In addition to supplying our local Starbucks!!
…sugar
So Rose Hall’s having teething problems. Why does that surprise anyone?? Do folks think manufacturing sugar is like it was during the 7th century under the Dutch?? When we had oxen going around in circles to turn wheels that crushed cane and the juice was drained into metal “coppers” – like giant karahees – to be boiled until it thickened, and then stored in large barrels with a hole at the bottom for the molasses to drain out??
No siree Bob!! Sugar’s a high-tech product that demands a slew of machinery operating in tandem and with precision!! When the PNC shuttered Rose Hall, they allowed all the machinery in the factory to collapse into mounds of rust. Does anyone think someone’s gonna wave a wand and sugar will appear from cane?? Just as an example, heat from boilers produce steam under pressure that drives the machinery that makes the production line flow.
So, what happens when you start up the factory, develop a head of steam, and then discover a leak??
…Haiti
It’s good that our Government decided to send some Policemen to help bring some kind of stability to our fellow Caricom member Haiti. Ultimately, the Haitians will have to deal with their challenges; but first there’s gotta be order!
