The Trinidadian government is to begin advertising for investors in agri ventures here to satisfy the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed with Guyana last year.
Minister of Agriculture, Dr Leslie Ramsammy revealed in a press release on Wednesday that the results of soil tests were sent to the relevant authorities in Trinidad and Tobago and now that this step was done the Twin-Island Republic would officially commence advertising for investors.
The release revealed that “with this step completed the Trinidadian Government would proceed shortly to advertise for investors to tap into the opportunity to invest in Guyana, even as the joint Technical Team from the two countries determine what crops are suitable for Trinidad farmers to commence with.”
Since the MOU became public and Trinidad’s Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj visited Guyana in November of last year, he has been on record as stating that while no investors were identified, efforts to find private partnerships were already underway.
He had told Stabroek News in November that 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.
Maharaj had previously stated that the scientific data, such as the soil testing done by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) would assist in knowing which crops would be more desirable than others.
According to Ramsammy, a possible area “has also been identified for farmers to commence the necessary land preparation for cultivation”. The press release did not identify this area but Stabroek News was told that it was located in the Canje Basin. The teleconference agreed that a meeting will be held shortly between the two governments to discuss the next phase of the MOU. The agreement addresses several areas including programmes and activities, core areas of cooperation, monitoring and coordinating mechanism, mutual responsibility, commitments and rights and obligations.
The MOU, which was signed in September of 2013, would grant Trinidadian farmers and investors access to land in Guyana for large scale cultivation.
The MOU between the two countries sets aside 10,000 acres of land here to be used while an additional 90,000 acres would also be made available depending on the success of the first 10,000.
In November, Ramsammy and Maharaj said that corn and soya were being looked at as well as food crops such as cassava and legumes. Maharaj had noted that contract farming was a potential possibility under this arrangement.
He had said that Guyana’s land could potentially fill the void for large scale commercial farming that is increasingly unavailable in the twin-island nation. Two teams have already visited Guyana for coconut, rice and aquaculture.
The MOU has not been without controversy. Trinidadians farmers have expressed frustrations with their own government claiming that there has been a stagnation of development at home.
The Trinidad Farmers Association has charged that for over 18 years the government has ignored expired land leases and that the MOU is being played up as a way to reduce the food import bill although that can be done with development at home.
