AFBI board is "unrepresentative"

Ulster Unionist MLA, Tom Elliott, has hit out at the geographical representation provided by the board members of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute after learning that four out of the six counties of Northern Ireland at not represented at board level.

In a statement, Mr Elliott said: "The fact is that upon closer inspection of the geographical representation provided by the AFBI board, four out of the six counties in Northern Ireland - Fermanagh, Tyrone, Londonderry and Armagh - have no one serving on the board and living in their area to voice their views. Essentially, this means that the entire west of Northern Ireland has no representation despite being the most rural part of the country. For a long time I have spoken out against the centralisation of posts in the east of the province, but this situation is simply ludicrous. How can any organisation, let alone one which needs to work closely with the agricultural community, be an effective body if it does include representation from over half the country"

"The current make up of the board is that it has six members from County Down, three from County Antrim, two from Belfast and one from the Republic of Ireland. I do not want to turn this matter into a political football, but how can it be right that over half the people in Northern Ireland are not represented and yet there is representation on the board from the Republic of Ireland, a jurisdiction within which AFBI has no power? It simply makes no sense."

"I would like to make it clear that I am not seeking to undermine any of the officials on the board, but it is obvious that there is a real need for change regarding representation at board level. The west of the country must be given a voice otherwise AFBI will find itself becoming a talking shop for the east while the people it should be working with in the west become disillusioned and disinterested in what they are trying to do. This is a very serious issue. It is imperative that the imbalance is addressed and I will certainly be doing what I can to ensure that the counties which are not represented receive a voice at board level as soon as is possible."