Dear Editor,
The first thing I would do every morning is to offer prayers to God then I would read the news online. My attention was drawn to an article which indicated the residents of Dartmouth and surrounding villages on the Essequibo Coast again leveled their requests for varying things including better roads/ streets and better skills training programs. Editor, indeed those requests are needed but they are not new. I recall speaking to residents of Charity and the Pomeroon River while I worked as a reporter in the Region.
There is an established businessman who I had several conversations with. He related that he wanted to go into the business of establishing a pasteurized milk factory. I even recalled Mr. Dilip Singh told me that he bought the equipment and was looking at some cows, especially those that produced milk only. Editor, if my memory serves me correct, that was sometime in 2916/2017. Editor, I also recalled residents of the Pomeroon River calling for a GMC to be established in the Pomeroon River. The main interest was to facilitate those farmers in the riverain communities to sell their produce more efficiently.
The GMC would also operate as a base for residents along the Essequibo Coast and further afield to purchase produce from the facility. Editor, many Guyanese would know that there are no white collar jobs in the Pomeroon River and the establishment of a GMC was and still is a workable initiative only if those residents get the support from government. Editor, with the produce that comes from the Essequibo Coast indeed proper training is needed. There are a lot of farmers who plant but have no rewards of their labour and this cannot continue.
Ways and means must take priority in assisting those farmers. For many it’s their bread and butter. They have no other source and they have children to raise and educate. Editor, another suggestion could be that the government facilitate a plan whereby a boat could be bought to transport farmers’ produce outside of the region. That would be a major help. Essequibians need to be properly trained and educated as to how to profit from their hard labour.
Sincerely,
Yannason Duncan