And while the nation's attention is gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, in Valley of Peace this morning, that was far from anyone's contemplation. Farmers were locked in a dispute about that most precious resource: land. They are locked in a deep conflict with an American owned, large scale grain farming outfit called Valley of Peace Farms which has title for 11,273 acres of farm land. But within those thousands of acres are 1,115 acres which more than 50 farmers say they have leases for. Additionally, they say they have been working those lands for 20 years or more.
So, both sides feel they have rights to the land, which has been a source of ongoing tension for years now. But things heated up three weeks ago when Valley of Peace Farms put ads in the newspapers telling these farmers to come to them to have their lands regularised.
The farmers then went to see the ministers as leaseholders and/or squatters and stepped up works to expand their farms. That's where we picked up the story:
After going to the Lands Department both sides went to the Department of the Environment The Farmers Association alleges that Valley of Peace Farms has violated its environmental compliance plans. The company says it has done no such thing. More on that next week.
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