“We cannot continue like this” – Agri Minister to GLDA officers in Region 6

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha has lashed out against extension officers attached to the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) in Region Six. The Minister said he was not pleased with the report he was getting on the ground when he visited Plegt Anker, on the East Bank of Berbice (EBB), on Saturday. Farmers between Mara and Plegt Anker attended the meeting.
“I asked the GLDA head to be here this morning, and he said that he had some other business and he will send some other persons. Those people are not here. We gave out a contract to the 100 acres of pasture for farmers, and I asked for the contractor to be here, but I cannot see him. I do not know what GLDA is doing on the East Bank,” Mustapha said.

His comments came after several farmers complained about issues affecting them and the lack of support they had received from the GLDA Extension Officers on the EBB.
The Agriculture Minister said he wants to meet all of the officers from the agency at his office on Tuesday.
“We cannot continue to work like this. People are drawing money under false pretenses. They are being paid to do a job, and every week we are getting reports that the officers are going around and meeting with farmers and helping them. We want to improve our livestock production in this country and, over the last two years, we imported six to three breeding animals. Now we are doing embryo transplants, and over 300 animals we have implanted embryos.”
The Agriculture Minister said that 1000 embryos are expected to be in the country within a few weeks as the programme intensifies. He said the black belly sheep project, which started in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), he wants to extend to Region Six.
“We had 1000 sheep coming from Barbados, and that has been increased by about 1500, so we have about 3000 black belly sheep in the country. That is the brand we are trying to build in Guyana, and we want farmers to participate. In Region Five, we have over 500 farmers participating in the programme, and we are continuing it. So I want to bring that programme to Region Six, but if we continue like this and the livestock officers are not working then we will not get any progress,” he noted.
“We have been doing all of this work in the community, but there is still more work to be done, and I am very disappointed with the GLDA’s work on the East Bank of Berbice.”
Farmers who attended the meeting pointed out that they are being visited by officers from the other agencies, the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) which are all sub-agencies under the Agriculture Ministry.
“So the only delinquent one is the GLDA,” Mustapha said.