Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud told farmers of Hubu and Parika Back that $9.1 billion has been budgeted for the agriculture sector and $375.5M for Region Three which it envisions as a major agriculture hub in ten years.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release the said sum reflects an increase of 22% over last’s year’s budget. Persaud, along with CEO at the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority Lionel Wordsworth, Senior Civil Engineer Frederick Flatts, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber and General Manager, New Guyana Marketing Corporation Nizam Hassan met with the East Bank Essequibo farmers at the St Lawrence Primary School.
According to Persaud the focus of the meeting was to update farmers on development plans for 2011 as it was important to garner feedback from the immediate beneficiaries. “We are now in a position where we can now do more for our people and if you look at our budget you would see that we are one of the few countries in the world whereby we are able to spend more on our people and tax less,” he said.
He also told them that Region Three, particularly Hubu, is a critical area in the country’s diversification plans. “You have crops, fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, livestock and also traditional crops; rice and sugar.” By March month end the ministry will be wrapping up a project in Parika that looks at controls, access and rehabilitation of infrastructure and will cost over $470M.
In addition to this, Persaud assured farmers that much more will be done in the region to improve drainage and irrigation and the ministry will be deploying an additional excavator there.
“The ministry is willing to assist farmers in doing four hours work on their private farm lands, only if they organize themselves into farmers’ groups and approach the Ministry with a plan,” he said.
This year government will be investing $1.5B in its agriculture diversification programme and aims to ensure that every farmer benefits equally by establishing a farmers database that will “be used to help track the farmers’ production rate, so if an investor comes and says he needs five tonnes of something, the GMC will be able to track its availability.” This will help to secure a long-term market for local produce. Persaud said government foresees Hubu as a major agro-processing zone in the next ten years.
This year Region Three was allocated $375.5M with $255M as capital expenditure and $120.5 M for current expenditure. Faerber noted that the capital budget will be used for maintenance of infrastructure and administration of the region. He indicated that $5.5M will be used for paying salaries, $50M for the continuation of agriculture strengthening programmes, including the revetment of drainage structures at Sisters Village and Enterprise, the construction of a koker at Hog Island, raising river defence and embankment and the purchase of drainage tubes. The sum of $98.5M will be used for public works: roads and bridges, $50M for education and $57M for health.
