Pres Ali announces major agricultural projects for Reg 2

…commercial marine cage fish farming, poultry facility among others earmarked

President Dr Irfaan Ali, in a visit to Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) ahead of Independence Day celebrations, on Wednesday announced a number of major agricultural projects at the Mainstay/Whyaka villages.

Among the projects the President announced, were a poultry facility at the community’s school. This is in light of the fact that the demand for chicken from the resort was approximately 800 to 1000 pounds per month. He also announced that 30 persons from the community would benefit from the Government’s countrywide drive to provide temporary jobs.
“We’re going to launch with this school, in this community, a special poultry project, aimed at producing all the meat requirements for the resort and expanding it into the village itself. The Government is going to work with you in financing this project, which will be led by the children of Mainstay and the school there.

“And out of the 30 persons that will be employed, one will be designated to this project. I’m going to send back from my office, for these two communities I’m visiting today and initiatives I’m announcing, the National Security Advisor will be working with these communities to ensure timely implementation and successful outcomes,” President Ali said.
Another project he announced was one for commercial marine-cage fish farming, which would seek to produce 11 metric tonnes of fish every nine months. This would also be a youth-driven project, with the assistance of the Government’s technical officers.
“The second project has to do with the youth empowerment project – the innovation. We have worked some numbers. Very recently, I gave the statistics on the shortage of fish and fish products, globally and regionally,” President Ali said.
“So, what we want to do is start the first pilot in Mainstay, where we’re going to bring the young people together, the Government is going to invest in a commercial marine cage. We’re going to put the capital investment in. And the aim is to produce 11 metric tonnes of fish every nine months, from this community.”
According to Ali, technical officials will start coming into the community next week to work with the residents in establishing the project and determining the best locations for the marine cage.
“Once we do this right, based on the numbers that we have established, the annual profitability can be as much as $10 million. So, we’re not sitting and waiting. We’re looking at ways, methods, and policies that we can bring on board to uplift your lives.”
Additionally, the President announced that the Government wanted to work with villagers and farmers to accelerate their pineapple production. According to him, the Government wants to partner with the people.
Last year, President Ali had declared that his Government would be pursuing an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade and that in the next four years, with the assistance of boosted production and more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent, by 2025.
Months after assuming office, President Ali had charged the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry with assessing and addressing the hurdles related to exporting food and agricultural products to markets within the Region. As such, concerns about barriers to trade in some Caricom markets were raised with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) earlier this year.
The Ministry subsequently formed a National Working Group on Barriers to Trade against Exports from Guyana. According to the assessment on market access by the Working Group, most of the challenges found were related to technical measures, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It also found several technical and administrative regulations that were all hampering the export of Guyanese products.