The Government will budget $150,000 for next year’s Agricultural Exhibition, MPs were told today.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the public works minister, said the return to an in-person exhibition for the first time in three years had been a great success and praised the work of the parks department and members of the public who helped to organise the event at short notice.

He said: “After multiple consultative sessions with the AG Show Ltd committee who have been managing the Ag Show since 2016, in late January of this year full responsibility for the 2023 Ag Show was returned to the Department of Parks.

“While ideally, the department would have preferred more time to take over responsibility for this iconic event, they nevertheless accepted the challenge and moved forward expeditiously to meet the constrained timeline.”

He said that the acting director of parks, Remi Subair, formed a committee to organise the Ag Show consisting of Georgette Caines, Betty Conyers, Susan Conyers, Claire Russell, Carlita Lodge, Esther Lopes, Ronnie Lopes, Makiesha Smith, Roseann Michelson, Steven Antonition, Derrick Seymour and Paul Furtado.

He said the Ministry of Public Works made available $100,000 to revive the event. No funds had been budgeted because until January it was understood that the previous organisers would continue in their full capacity.

Colonel Burch singled out Mr Subair, Kelly Sousa, Roger Parris, Georgette Caines, Craig Burt, Joanne Smith, guest judges and the entire Department of Parks staff, including those in the Skills Development Programme, for their hard work.

In response to questions, Colonel Burch said 4, 568 adults and 4,474 children and senior citizens attended the events over three days and tickets worth $79,900 were sold.

He said $150,000 was the budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year, adding: “As the Department of Parks has more time to plan and prepare, the general public can expect an improved and more refined experience with the 2024 Ag Show.”