The Chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation Bishop Gregory Collie and Chairman of The Church Commercial Farming Group the Rev. Dr. Patrick Paul signed an agreement on Thursday, July 22, for the Church Group to lease 40 acres of land from BAIC in Normal’s Castle, Abaco.
The Church Group plans to break ground next month to begin a farming project to assist in providing food security for Bahamians. The Church Group has answered a challenge by the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources the Hon. Michael Pintard to help reduce the country’s food import bill of $1 billion dollars annually. It was back in October of last year when the Group was formed and invited Bahamians to buy shares in the project. The group was started among members of the Bahamas Christian Council, including the Anglican Church, Church of God of Prophecy, Baptist, Church of God Highway, Assemblies of God, Bahamas Harvest Church, Bahamas Faith Ministries along with a number of independent churches representing some 60,000 people.
The Church Group is also following the advice of BAIC’s Chairman Bishop Collie to begin farming potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. The Group will manufacture French fries and ketchup along with a juice called Basilaid Rev. Paul said The Church Group was grateful to partner with BAIC to help provide some level of food security for Bahamians. Bishop Collie said BAIC was delighted to provide the land in Abaco in order to assist in revitalizing economic activity on the island of Abaco which was devastated by Hurricane Dorian in September of 2019. Present for the signing of the lease agreement at the Headquarters of BAIC were: Rev. Clyde Bain, Office Manager, Rev. Andrew Sands, Treasurer and Rev. Paul, Chairman of the Church Commercial Farming Group, Bishop Gregory Collie, Mrs. Kim Carey-Gibson, Deputy Chairman at BAIC, Mr. Jameel Lightbourne, Director at BAIC and BAIC’s General Manager Mr. Rocky Nesbitt.
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