Govt to open 5 acres of land in Region 3 for youth business project – President Ali

The Government of Guyana is making available five acres of land in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) for youths in the region to establish an agro-processing business.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has made this commitment during an engagement with scores of youths on Sunday. While speaking with the young people, the President highlighted the importance of networking, and noted that it would provide the resources needed to build revenue. He added that this cross-community approach also aligns with the Government’s ‘One Guyana’ platform.
“What I want to accomplish is a bit different from the creation of individual wealth. I believe that wealth creation from a cross-section of the community, from the pooling together of young people, is an important part of the ‘One Guyana’ concept, because it helps to integrate the network and, importantly, to grow a level of responsibility, trust, collaboration, and support for each other,” the President alluded.

President Ali explained that, to support the youths of the region, Government, through the Agriculture Ministry, would allocate the land, and the youths would engage in high-tech agriculture thereon.
“So, in this region, the Ministry of Agriculture would identify five acres of land in which we will do high-tech agriculture production…one of the areas that we will focus on is poultry, but not poultry in the traditional way,” the President disclosed.
Further, he explained that the financing required for the project would be acquired through a partnership with Demerara Bank Ltd and the Housing and Water Ministry.
He noted that young people who had applied for a loan to construct a low-income home would receive an additional $500,000, which would be set aside for the development of a business model that would support their mortgage.

“The bank gives you $6 million, that is what we are working with. So, you pay for your home, and the $500,000 becomes investment money for you…,” he explained. “What we want to do is to work with the bank, work with our technical officers on converting that investment money into building a business model that will support your mortgage and support empowering you and building opportunities.”
The President told the youths that this new opportunity has the potential to transform their lives. However, he noted that they must be disciplined, and he declared that in order for them to become successful, they would have to adopt a positive attitude in dealing with matters of business.
“To wake up with an attitude to win and succeed is different from waking up normally every morning. So, the same aptitude and attitude you display when you believe you are happy, you have to display that same aptitude and attitude when it comes to creating opportunities for yourself; when it comes to embracing opportunities for yourself; when it comes to reaching for opportunities,” the Head of State told the youths.
Notably, within eight months of its becoming operational, the Leonora branch of the Demerara Bank Ltd has already conducted business transactions in excess of one billion dollars, most of which are for housing and home ownership. These loans cater to youths and young adults below the age of 35, making the Guyanese dream of homeownership easier than ever.