A veterinarian and dairy farmers from New Zealand will be in Bacolod City next week to interview and screen the five veterinary technicians of Negros Occidental who will be trained in their country for dairy development and production.

Two NZ immigration advisers will join the technicians for migration consultation and job opportunities, Dr. Renante Decena, provincial veterinarian, said yesterday.

Decena said this is part of the memorandum of understanding recently signed between the province and the two dairy farm owners, Petrus Nicolaas Smit and Evan Gregory, to help develop a dairy industry in Negros. Rachelle Smit, wife of Petrus, who is a Negrense, will be joined by Marissa Kelly and Jacintha Konign, dairy farm experts and Mary Ann Kanwal, a veterinarian from Malaysia.

Smit told the DAILY STAR in a telephone interview that she will donate to the province pasture grass seeds to be planted and used for feeding the cattle and sheep, shears for sheep grooming, and feeders for the cows. Smit is also representing the New Zealand Business Association and will discuss with Gov. Alfredo Marañon, Jr. the possible exportation of organic and raw sugar products of the province.

She is also eyeing investment in the province and may put up a plant to process bagasse into tissue paper, toilet paper, and paper towels, Smit told the DAILY STAR. If everything turns out well, she said, it will help e address unemployment in the province. Smit also said she sees a big potential for the province and its soil is very fertile.

“I really want to be a part of the progress of Negros and it has been my desire, together with my husband, to help its people,” Smit said.

She also commended Marañon for his efforts to give the Negrenses sustainable livelihood through his projects in developing the livestock and poultry industry of the province.

Meanwhile, two immigration advisers from New Zealand Maricel Weisschede and Juvy Summer, will also be in the province for the consultations and lectures on the migration process on Aug. 16, at the Provincial Capitol Building in Bacolod City. *LTG

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