Essequibo Coast students no longer have to travel to city for GSA practical

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh continued his outreach in Region Two on Sunday, when he visited the just completed $60 million agro processing and packaging facility located neighbouring the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) Essequibo campus, in Cotton Field, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).
The facility is designed to accommodate a small modern processing facility, a laboratory and two classrooms to facilitate learning experiences for students in value-added agricultural production, along with male and female dressing rooms and washrooms, and sanitary facilities.
During an interview with Guyana Times, Minister Singh explained that while the project is completed, it still needs to be outfitted with the relevant equipment. Singh added that this step will be completed within the next two months.
Elaborating on the agro processing facility, Singh explained that the main aims are exposing students to the requirements of commercial food processing operations and to the techniques required for the development of new products; producing a variety of products at the food processing facility; demonstrating to students, food processing as a viable business and making available a facility that small scale producers could use.
“Most importantly, students from the Guyana School of Agriculture will no longer have to travel to Mon Repos, Georgetown, for practical sessions. Also, the facility will also be accessible to small-scale producers who desire to convert their raw produce into a value-added product for the local and regional market,” the Minister explained.
The project was constructed by the Ministry of Finance’s Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).