Dear Editor,
The systematic and scientific manner in which agriculture is being competently managed is a guarantee that Guyana would never suffer from the Dutch Disease; which, simply put, is the total or partial neglect of the other sectors due to the booming oil and gas sector. This Government’s policies on agriculture are commendable and beyond any condemnation, quite unlike its predecessor’s.
The Honourable Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, at his fourth capacity-packed outreach in Region 6, made it abundantly clear that the achievements which agriculture have made in just over a year have once again catapulted Guyana as the leader in food production in Caricom. The Minister not only boasted that Guyana would close the 40% gap in food imports by 2025, but outlined carefully-crafted and achievable strategic plans.
He explained to his packed audience that new roads would be opened which would give farmers access to thousands of hectares of virgin arable lands. This is already in the making. This will boost the production of rice and other crops, such as citrus, and create employment.
He gave some examples: The backlands of #52 and #58 Villages up to the Canje Creek and Moleson Creek in Region 6. I could recall that a similar plan to build an all-weather road at 52-58 Village was given to the former Minister of Agriculture, and a discussion was held with a large-scale farmer in Berbice, but the project was unceremoniously dumped. The Coalition was simply not interested in the agriculture sector; they had a fixation on oil and gas.
This was most definitely a guaranteed recipe for the Dutch Curse. But the Coalition ignored the mass condemnation and criticisms. Even today, the Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, brags about the ‘competence’ of Noel Holder. He always sees things in a distorted manner.
There are volumes which can be written about the deliberate decimation of the agriculture sector by the Coalition.
In addition, the Minister outlined the ongoing progress in the cultivation of high-value crops, such as broccoli and cauliflower, and the establishing of agro-processing plants in various regions. In this regard, there are numerous major investors who are engaging the Government.
He also emphasised the need to change the perception of agriculture, and get young people involved in the many lucrative ventures available in the sector.
He also outlined the many infrastructural development plans in the pipeline, such as the deep-water harbour, the road to Brazil, the installation of new pumps, and the building of a Hope-size canal between Adventure and #43 Villages. Like any investment, there is a timeline after which it would bear dividends, and the Minister made a commitment that his Ministry and all the others would work together with all farmers to ensure that the objectives of his Ministry, both short and long-term, would be achieved.
In conclusion, the agriculture sector was not only neglected by the Coalition, but there were deliberate acts and omissions to annihilate it, since Coalition leaders saw the sector as PPP-based and a threat which must be eliminated. The former President, David Granger, had made it clear that ‘rice farming is private business’; just read between the lines.
