Northsound farmer pickets Chinese Embassy over CCECC operations and is invited to meeting with diplomats on Friday
Elton Ryan, the beleaguered livestock farmer at North Sound, staged a one-man picket in Paradise View this morning, April 28, and has secured a meeting with diplomats at the Chinese Embassy.
Ryan, who runs Tappa Hill Farm, has had his operations smothered by cement dust and other emissions from a neighbouring Chinese business for more than a year now.
The farmer has complained to all the Government’s agencies that the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) – a state-run entity of China – has put his life and livelihood at risk. But, to date, no change has been made in the company’s operations.
Accordingly, Ryan took action at the Chinese Embassy on Thursday morning, as he staged a protest to bring attention to his plight.
The farmer says there is already a court case pending between him and the Chinese company.
Taking this into account, he says, he expected that he would have gotten some relief and the offending work at the facility would have been halted.
As a result of his picket, Ryan has been invited to meet with the resident Chinese diplomats. He says he will take up the invitation on Friday afternoon, April 28, and will be accompanied by his legal counsel.
At present, Ryan and his team are struggling to operate a 68-acre farm on which he has livestock and fruit trees.
The situation between him and the CCECC has been going on for the past two years and has impacted his ability to farm successfully.
The CCECC was leased – or sold – a parcel of land directly east of Tappa Farms reportedly for the construction of its Caribbean headquarters. However, it has since erected a cement and block-making plant on the premises, creating layers of choking dust.