(Trinidad Guardian) Guyanese President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali is calling on Guyanese people living in T&T to return home to the economic opportunities that exist there.
He called Guyana’s economy the “fastest growing” in Latin America and the Caribbean with natural resources worth hundreds of billions of US dollars at a meeting with the Guyanese Diaspora on Saturday at the Radisson Hotel, Port-of-Spain.
Ali told members of the Diaspora that there are now more opportunities than when they left their homeland.
“The incentive when you left was that you were going to something better. I say to you now, the incentive is that we can offer you better than when you left and to give you an opportunity now to return home. I want you to come back home.”
Some of the areas that the Guyanese Diaspora can work and invest in include agriculture, tourism, oil and gas, and construction.
He spoke about the importance of training and educating Guyana’s workforce for the new industries that they are building.
“Yes, I will talk to you about the 20,000 scholarships, making university education free, school children grants as well as other opportunities.”
He also spoke about plans to reduce the cost of energy, which will make investments in different industries more attractive for Guyanese who want to return home and for foreign investors as well.
“You know what this will do for manufacturing and industrial development?” he asked.
Ali arrived in T&T last Wednesday for a three-day state visit, where he discussed ways to enhance agriculture production and cut Caricom’s food import bill.
Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, who also spoke, said that there are “thousands” of Guyanese who live in T&T and the Government welcomes them back home to build the country.
Giving an update on Guyana’s booming energy sector, Ali said, “By 2026 we should be producing 810,000 barrels of oil per day. The Guyana we want to build is a non-oil economy which must grow at a rapid pace. There must be an education and healthcare system that support one of the greatest economies in the world. We want to make Guyana a health and education hub and we will remove corporate tax. We have more than four private hospitals under construction. We’re building a new sports stadium.”
According to Ali, “‘The prosperity of Guyana must be and will be the prosperity of the Caricom region,” he said.
He said that it was a misconception that Guyana is simply rich in oil and gas and nothing more. Ali gave an idea of the immense natural wealth that the country offers.
“Our forests have one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world. It is less than 0.05 per cent. The estimated value of the forest is US$500 billion. Our bauxite reserves are estimated at US$1 billion. Our quarry reserves are estimated at 28.9 million tonnes. The conservative value of our annual fresh water is US $20 million.”
The Guyanese president added that Guyana is also experiencing an expansion in agriculture production.
He forecasts that Guyana will see a jump in poultry production from 50,000 to 90,000 tonnes by 2025 which is an almost 100 per cent increase in poultry production.
His Government is hoping to move the production of vegetables from 324,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes by 2025.
Ali also boasted that Guyana is building Latin America’s and the Caribbean’s first Hydroponics City. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil.
“There will produce strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, the things that we import and are of high value.”
The Guyanese Minister of Agriculture said the goal for Guyana and the rest of the region must be food security.
“We saw what happened during the pandemic as there were countries with huge sums of money and could not buy food. We are happy to be an oil-producing country but agriculture is important.”
Guyana’s Minister of Tourism Oneidge Walrond, who also spoke, said Guyana was transforming itself into one of the region’s tourism destinations and they hope to have 2,000 hotel rooms by 2025.
“We are seeing investments in room stock. By March, British Airways will have direct flights to Guyana.”
People ready to go back
A Guyanese migrant, 36, who gave her name only as Carla, said she came to T&T 14 years ago and is married to a Trinidadian.
She told the Sunday Guardian at the diaspora meeting that she is ready to return home with her husband and their six children.
“I came here to a better life but it is not what I thought it would be. I got married to a Trinidadian. It started off fine but things have gotten harder. I have a pending residency so I can’t work and my husband is the sole breadwinner. I have to update my status here every six months and it’s not easy. I can’t access certain things in the hospital or jobs in T&T.”
She explained that she had an agricultural background in Guyana and when the opportunities present themselves she will return.
“I was self-employed in the farming sector. I am happy to return to my homeland. I am here because of my President and to see what he has to say in terms of what benefits there are for us.”
Seymone Benn, another Guyanese migrant who spoke to the Sunday Guardian, said she has been in T&T since 2007.
Benn said she studied at the Cipriani Labour College and has had a mixed experience.
“The experience was not bad at the beginning and still is not that bad. The only bad thing is the way we Guyanese were treated when it comes to our legal residency. I have a cousin here for 20 years and eventually, when he went to the Ministry of National Security, they told him he had to go home.”
Benn said Guyana was now building its economy and it will take time for wages to rise to live a comfortable life there.
“Guyana is transforming but at the moment it doesn’t give the labour force much hope as they do not have a labour code. T&T has labour laws and workers are protected. The salaries in Guyana are still meagre. Guyanese send home barrels back to Guyana for our families. That is one of our major concerns.”
During the question and answer segment more Guyanese got up and told the President that they want to return home. Some of the Guyanese who spoke were business people, lawyers, students and Information Technology specialists.
Ali told all of them that Guyana’s rapidly growing economy is ready to absorb them and their skills.
