PPP/C Regional Democratic Councillor (RDC), Mrs. Vilma Da Silva has said a new coconut association has been formed in the Region Two area of the Pomeroon to take advantage of the high demand for water and dried coconuts on the international market.Addressing Councillors at Tuesday’s statutory meeting of the RDC in the Regional Boardroom at Anna Regina, Mrs. Da Silva said she had recently attended a seminar in Trinidad and Tobago on the “Development of the Coconut Industry in the Caribbean” and she has learnt about the great demand for water and dried coconuts on the international market. Mrs. Da Silva, who has responsibility for the Pomeroon area of Region Two, has a great passion to see the development of the coconut industry in the Pomeroon move upwards. She said the new coconut association has some one hundred farmers as members, and that it will primarily address production and marketing.

She also reported that Mr. Alfro Alphonso, who owns the Pomeroon Oil Mill at Charity, Essequibo Coast, is slated to play a leading role in this new coconut association.

According to the councillor, her aim is to boost the coconut industry to adequately address the needs of the international market.
She said Pomeroon was declared at the T&T seminar as the area with the biggest cultivation of coconuts in the entire Caribbean, and she said she felt very elated to hear the news.

The members of the executive committee of the Coconut Association of the Pomeroon are Chairman: Bradley Griffith; Secretary: Mrs. Vilma Da Silva; and Treasurer: Eric Gomes. Mr. Alfro Alphonso is one of the committee members. (Rajendra Prabhulall)