Government provides over one million in funding to assist farmers in monkey control

Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 27, 2020 (SKNIS): The problem of monkeys and wild pigs wreaking havoc on farmers’ crops is being worked on with the implementation of several control measures by the Department of Agriculture.

On this week’s edition of the radio and television programme Working for You, Melvin James, Director of the Department of Agriculture, said that a $1.2 million project was approved by the government that will help to address the wild monkey problem. Other animals such as the wild pig will also be impacted.

Mr. James said that to date, some $750,000 has been made available for project use.

“A lot of the problems that we have, we are now in a position to do something about it,” he stated. “There is money and so we can facilitate judicious trapping, selective shooting, use scare gadgets and other deterrents, and electric fences so that going forward in 2020, we expect to be able to report that we are doing something very tangible in terms of monkeys and pigs.”

Director James encouraged farmers to contact their respective agricultural extension officers for more information.

While the project was designed to assist farmers, the Director of Agriculture added that some consideration will be given to assist homeowners who are negatively affected by the monkeys.