Govt policy now threatens poultry industry to aid friends, comrades

…former Commerce Minister says country is already self-sufficient 

The coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government has now sidelined local poultry producers to grant licences to import hundreds of thousands of pounds of chicken without even consulting with local producers to see if the demand locally can be met – just to aid friends and comrades.

This is according to Chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PPAC), Irfaan Ali, who was at the time responding to revelations that a company registered only last year has already been granted a licence to import chicken into the country despite a thriving industry that has always been able to meet local demand.

Ali has since posited that there appeared to be a change in Government policy whereby encouraging and defending local businesses and the welfare of Guyanese workers were no longer a priority.

The former Housing Minister, who also held responsibility for Tourism, Industry and Commerce in Guyana under the previous Administration, pointed out that this was occurring in a time when the nation has seen the loss of jobs, such as in the case of Barama Company Limited.

He also questioned if it was the intention of the APNU/AFC Government to close down the poultry industry in order to aid “a few friends and comrades, while at the same time relegating our country to becoming an economic colony of a few developed countries.”

Guyana Times on Thursday reported that Government has granted several licences to import close to one million – 884,000 – pounds of chicken for the latter half of 2016 and among the recipients are Guyana Water Inc Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Richard Van West-Charles and fired Debt Recovery Manager Lear Goring.

Guyana Development Associates is among the companies granted licences to import chicken and is jointly owned by Van West-Charles and Goring.

The company was registered on July 27, 2015, two months after the APNU/AFC Administration took office. Its address is registered as Lot 301 Meadowbrook Gardens, Georgetown.

It is among a list of 19 businesses/individuals who were recipients of the second batch of chicken import licences for 2016.

GWI’s Internal Auditing Department is currently investigating Dr Van West-Charles over a litany of complaints and decisions, including the hiring of Goring in a position that he created.

Ali pointed out that the local poultry industry was the largest non-traditional agricultural sector  with investments in the tens of millions of US dollars.

According to Ali, “the local poultry industry has always had a good working relationship with the Ministry of Business and has always had an opportunity whenever these situations arise to meet and discuss whether there will be adequate supplies of chicken for Christmas.”

The former Minister noted that the industry provided employment for some 18,000 people, “mainly in our rural communities where employment is difficult to find”.

He used the opportunity to point out too that “hundreds of small households supplement their income by rearing broilers and layers in their backyards”.

The industry, according to the former Minister, also provides an important partner for the struggling rice sector, since a large percentage of the feed used in the poultry industry comprises rice and its by-products.

He also drew reference to the fact that “Guyana has been self-sufficient in both fresh eggs and broiler meat for several years now”.

This industry, he said, is now threatened too by smuggling, under-invoicing of weights being imported by persons who have been issued licences “and now in addition… the granting of licences without even a discussion with the industry to see if there is a need to import”.

A number of local farmers are upset at the Government’s decision, citing the fact that they have adequate supplies for the local market.

Some local producers queried exactly how 19 companies were granted licences by the Government without any consultation with the local industry.

This publication was told that such a move by the Government will have devastating consequences on local chicken producers and the feed industry.