After meeting with Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud on Thursday, Trinidad’s Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj has disclosed that the Canje Basin has been identified for agriculture development under the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between Guyana and the twin island republic.
Earlier on Thursday, Maharaj and Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Agriculture Minister, stated that no lands had been identified as yet. Maharaj had said that any identification of lands would need to take into consideration which commodities would be grown.
According to a Government Information Agency press statement yesterday, Maharaj pointed out that scientific and empirical data would be collected prior to the land being offered to T&T investors for development. He was quoted as saying “it’s not farmers, but we want investors to come in to farm with their primary function to invest.”
It is unclear why the location of the land was not announced here by Persaud himself.
To date, Maharaj has gone on record as stating that there are currently no investors for the proposed farming development in Guyana aimed at reducing the food import bill of the small island nation. Teams from Trinidad had previously visited the Herstelling, Mahaica-Berbice areas.
Maharaj said Trinidad would advertise for expressions of interest in the coming weeks and once investors responded site visits would be arranged and proposals solicited. At this point both Guyana and Trinidad would be involved in the process of evaluating proposals. No timeframe was given for any of this.
A Trinidad farmers group has expressed disquiet over the MoU and says that adequate farming lands are available in Trinidad. This was disputed by Maharaj.