Food Security During National Emergency

Dean Barrow

The issue of food security in a case of national emergency is paramount.  While he alluded to the fact that government is doing everything in its means to ensure that there is sufficient food to go around, Prime Minister Barrow expanded on the matter when pressed about existing initiatives such as the Pantry and BOOST programmes.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“The Opposition was very kind when that matter came up.  To put it in a veryt neutral sort of way, but being as sharp as I am, I certainly understood that he was saying that’s too politically contaminated.  Not that I agree with him but because we’re operating in a spirit of total partnership I accepted that the effort to augment those sorts of programs should be confined to the BOOST Program and supplemented by some new food bank initiative.  Certainly if we reached the point of a total shutdown we will need for the Human Development Ministry to be able to provide food packages which the security forces would then be able to distribute.  But we think that just as there has been an offer on the part of, I forgot which International Financial Institution it is, to help us to expand the BOOST Program, so too you would be able to get funding for the kind of food bank that we will want to operate particularly in the case of an emergency declaration.”