Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture Madanlall Ramraj has defended the ministry’s decision to replace National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (NAREI) head Dr Oudho Homenauth, claiming that the agency has not performed as expected despite the continued investment that has been made into its work.
“We have started to revamp. NAREI extension was the worst ever. You [the media] have joined us several times across this country in our visits. You heard of the problems irrespective of extension services provided by NAREI,” said Ramraj, who also noted that Dr Homenauth was offered the post of advisor to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha twice but decided against it.
Stabroek News reported on Saturday that after 20 years as head of NAREI, Dr Homenauth received what he described as an “immediate dismissal” from Ramraj on March 8.