Dear Editor,
With Guyana now leading the CARICOM Initiative for Regional Food Security, it would be helpful if the lead Agency could provide answers to the questions listed below, in its quest to encourage investment and development in Guyana, notwithstanding the failure of the Jagdeo offer in 2013, and the reluctance of Caribbean States to embrace the implementation of the CSME, and help reduce the level and costs for food imports into the Region.
1 – Excluding rice, what other foodstuffs/ products does Guyana produce, ‘on a competitive basis, in adequate quantities, for intra-/extra- Regional trade’?
2 – Does Guyana have in place the requisite physical infrastructure, to facilitate economic (large scale) production and processing of crops, to supply intra-/extra- Regional markets e.g. reliable energy, transportation networks, irrigation systems, processing, storage, grading and handling facilities?
3 – Do we have land-capability maps/data bases on the suitability of the vast acreages of un-/underutilized lands, which we would offer for commercial production, and the supporting technical/analytical support systems?
4 – With reference to the current trade deficit with Trinidad and Tobago, has the Government investigated why it exists, and if so, what steps has been taken/will take, to improve the situation, especially in Guyana’s position as Lead for Regional Food Security, Agriculture, and Agricultural Diversification?
In the past, we did NOT have the financial resources to comprehensively address these issues, but now that we have this ‘oil bonanza’, I would have expected to see more urgency and priority devoted to plans/projects to increase food production, improve food security, education, and healthcare improvements/outcomes, designed to improve the lives and livelihood of the population.
Sincerely,
Cyril Adams
