THE EDITOR, Sir:

SOME 15 years ago, the Government of the Netherlands donated to Jamaica the equivalent of several millions of Jamaican dollars, along with the expertise of a number of Dutch personnel, to establish a rice-growing industry in the Westmoreland wetlands around the Savanna-la-Mar/Dean's Valley/Ferris area.

Unanswered questions

I remember meeting some of the Dutch at the time, and they were extremely enthusiastic about the prospects for this project, which they had spent a considerable time implementing.

What ever happened to this project? Why did it fail after the Dutch returned home? Was all that money totally wasted? Are there lessons to be learned from its failure in the context of our now dire need to grow our own food? Can the project be resuscitated? Is Jamaica incapable of producing rice in some of our wetlands?

I am, etc.,

MAURICE PAVELEY

beaconhill@cejamaica.com