…containers of agri-produce exported to Eastern Caribbean monthly
Having aspirations of being the bread basket of the Caribbean and of piloting the reduction of food imports into the region by 25 per cent in the next three years, Guyana is seeing increasing numbers of people entering the agriculture sector.
Making this report in the National Assembly was Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, when he rose to defend supplemental funds for his Ministry. According to the Minister, there has been an influx, not only in goods being shipped out, but also persons entering the agriculture sector.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha
“We have seen an influx of people into the agriculture sector by people who would have called it a day in 2015- 2020. We are seeing more and more people coming on now, they want to get into agriculture,” he explained.
“We’re seeing our agriculture sector thriving. As a matter of fact, every single month we’re seeing containers of produce going to the Eastern Caribbean, where farmers in Guyana now are exporting their produce,” Mustapha said.
The funds that Mustapha was seeking approval for in Financial Paper #3 were for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). According to a breakdown of the sums, $1 billion was requested for GUYSUCO and $2 billion for NDIA.
The Agriculture Minister has given some insight into how these monies would be spent: the Albion Sugar Estate will receive $363 million, Blairmont Estate $76 million, and Rose Hall Estate $561 million.
“The operating estates, we are rehabilitating that equipment. And the shuttered estates, we are trying to get those estates back on track. As I said, there’s a lot of money being spent at Rose Hall. We’ve budgeted for the entire year. To date, we’ve spent $12 billion, but we have another set of equipment that we have to set up to ensure we continue with the tillage. And there, a lot of critical equipment that was set aside and left in the field, we have to rehab,” he said.
The former A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government had closed the Wales Estate in 2016, and subsequently shut down the Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon estates.
The downsizing of the sugar industry has resulted in only the Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion estates currently operating. After taking office, the PPP/C Government announced, in the 2020 Emergency Budget presented in September 2020, that some $5 billion would be injected immediately into the sugar industry for the phased reopening of the closed estates. After entering office, Government also injected some $600 million into the Corporation to assist with the payment of wages and salaries for employees.
Meanwhile, the $2 billion for NDIA will be used for a number of things, including $426 million for mechanical works to NDIA equipment and $261 million to cover fuel. The Minister also gave a regional breakdown of where the money was going. For instance, the Minister disclosed that $46 million will go to Region Two, $272 million to Region Three, and $588 million to Region Four. Region Five has been allocated $97 million, Region Six $228 million, Region Nine $9 million and Region 10 $70 million. (G3)
