ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC):

Agriculture Minister Matthew Walter says he is confident that a high level meeting of three Caribbean leaders this week will bring a resolution to the banana impasse in the Windward Islands.

Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister Stephenson King of St. Lucia and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will meet in Castries on Friday to discuss the banana dispute.

Very optimistic

"I am not going to preempt the decisions but I am very optimistic that the decisions taken will contribute to a resolution of the situation," Walter told journalists at a recent press conference on the weekend.

The Windward Island Banana Development and Exporting Company (WIBDECO) wants to take over the sale of Windward Island bananas by singing a new sales and purchase agreement with the Windward Island Farmers Association (WINFA). But that bid has encountered some resistance with two court matters brought against WIBDECO by local banana companies in St. Lucia and Dominica.

Minister Walter said it was time for the war of words between WIBDECO and the local banana companies to stop.

"I think the best way we can resolve this banana issue is when all the stakeholders come together," he said. The Minister is also dismissing claims by Opposition Leader Earl Williams that governments of the region allowed the banana situation to reach crisis point before their intervention.

"e cannot say things such as that the situation has reached crisis level, there is no such situation in Dominica.

"We cannot also say that the government has not done enough to avert this so-called crisis; I think that is a misrepresentation of the truth," Walter added.