Berbice businessman supports construction of all-weather road

– will improve access to arable lands

Chief Executive Officer of Nand Persaud Rice Mills, producers of Karibee Rice, Mahindra Persaud has thrown his support behind a proposal to construct an all-weather road from Number 59 Village, Corentyne, to Canje Creek, in East Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).

The proposed road will link the Corentyne Highway with the Canje River and make available some 92,000 acres of agricultural lands up the Canje River and a further 100,000 acres on the other side of the river.

The road will also give access to residents along the bank of the river. The proposed 33-kilometre road is estimated to cost $900 million. Agriculture Minister Noel Holder recently accepted the proposal and may soon initiate discussions on the way forward.

According to the proposal, the road will open up land for rice, citrus, coconut, and dairy farming, access to logging, eco-tourism, and freshwater fishing with more than 8000 families standing to benefit.

Alluding to the impact of the proposed road, Persaud said the benefits will be tremendous: “There will be more acreage available for planting because there is a shortage of land for planting rice in region Six. The second benefit there will be a lower cost of production because if you get access roads the cost for production will go down and that would make you very competitive on the world market.”

He acknowledged the current shortage of land for rice and other cultivation in Region Six: “We have run out of rice in this region, there is a short supply for the past three months. There is not enough rice to support the markets that we have gotten into… 90 per cent of our farmers want more rice land and if we can open more; if they have 25 acres and you give them 25 more …they will have to take in workers for their Labour force; all of this will be people benefiting,” the businessman said.

The all-weather road proposal was made by the Berbice Regional Representative, Office of the Prime Minister, Gobin Harbhajan, who reminded that a road existed seven-years ago which linked the Corentyne Highway and the Canje River.

He explained that a decade ago he heard of the first road from then President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, David Subnauth but could have done nothing until he was given his current appointment.

He noted: “In 2015 when the Coalition government came into power I decided to rekindle this idea which I know would receive the focus it deserved. I then discussed the idea of this project with the owners of Nand Persaud and Company Limited who agreed that the construction of this road will make a vast amount of scarce land available to farmers.”

Harbhajan said too that there is a need for fresh lands for rice and other production to be made available: “Most of the rice farmers are renting land from the owners who live abroad and are paying $25,000 per acre, per crop. By opening up these lands and putting in the all-weather road it will give more leverage to compete on the world market. However, once you open an all-weather road you are opening industrial land,” he said.

Minister Holder opined that such a project will have a direct effect on the economic growth of Region Six and provide a better livelihood for farmers and their families, adding that it will significantly boost production in the ancient county since agriculture is the backbone of the region’s economy.