Speaking during a press conference, Chief Executive Officer of the society, James Paul, stated that a detailed survey would be carried out by German Professor Jens Born, a specialist in environmental management, later this month on the pig farming operations around the country, at the end of which, several recommendations would be made.

“These recommendations will be implementable...in which we would try to reduce environmental management problems that we see today on pig farms,“ Paul emphasised, noting one of the major issues was that of waste disposal.

According to The Barbados Advocate, he stated that the action would serve several purposes, including showing the BAS’ commitment to ensuring that farms are environmentally responsible, while also helping the island’s export drive for cold and meat products.

“If we can enhance the level of management on the individual farms, we think that as a result of this we would place the industry in a better position to be able to penetrate export markets at the same time. This is an initiative which we think it is important. We think it can make a critical difference to the industry and will also answer some of the criticisms that we get at the level of the industry, by persons who sometimes know no better but who do not understand that farmers are just as concerned about the environment in which they live,“ he remarked.

In addition, Mr Paul stressed that Barbadians could not move into rural districts and expect to have an urbanized environment with its own smells and sounds.