Brackish water shrimp project: Govt invites bids for supply of high-density tubes
The Agriculture Ministry has issued an invitation for bids from qualified and eligible bidders for the supply of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tubes for the brackish water shrimp project, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) at an estimated cost of $24,500,000 million.
Some of the shrimp captured at one of the shrimp ponds in Berbice
Bidding documents can be uplifted from the office of the Fisheries Department, Regent Street and Vlissengen Road, Bourda, Georgetown, for a non-refundable fee of $3000 each and deposited in the tender box at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Main and Urquhart Streets, Georgetown, no later than 09:00h on August 15.
During a telephone interview with this publication on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha explained that these tubes will be used to enhance the ponds to get proper drainage and also to take in water so that farmers could grow the larvae to come into shrimp.
“These are the continuation of the work so that is why we are now buying the tubes to continue the enhancement. These tubes will be used to enhance the ponds to get proper drainage and also to take in water so that they could grow the larvae to come into shrimp,” Mustapha explained.
He added: “This is what the Government is contributing because the project…is the rehabilitation of these ponds so that we could make it more effective.”
It was previously reported that under this project, farmers were able to produce 182.89 metric tons (182,890 kilograms) of blackwater shrimp in the first quarter of this year, earning over $274 million, which represents an increase of almost 50 per cent in production when compared to the same period in 2022.
The Minister previously highlighted that with the successes seen thus far, the Ministry is now working to have the programme replicated in other regions, the next being Region Five.
A section of the brackish water shrimp pond along the Corentyne Coast
“So far, we’ve assisted farmers with constructing ponds in Region Six and we’ve started preliminary works in Region Five. We’re also looking at other places like Region Two and so on. In the first few months of the project, we were able to increase production by 203 per cent and those levels have continued to increase over the years,” the Minister said.
Mustapha noted that some 37 farms in Region Six have been developed, comprising a total of 133 ponds.
“Before we started this project in July 2021, farmers were producing just about 10,000 kilograms monthly, just about 120,000 kilograms annually. We announced that this was the direction we wanted to take and that farmers would be given the support to expand. To date, we’ve been able to construct 133 ponds, and this has contributed to us exceeding initial production figures,” the Minister previously explained.
A total of $349.6 million was allocated in this year’s budget to support the further improvement of the fishing industry.
