Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Thursday handed over two mini excavators to the Region Two Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Administration and a long boom excavator to the Bethany Amerindian community.
The handing over ceremony took place before a small gathering at the RDC’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) compound.
Addressing the attendees, Mustapha said that the region’s total number of machines now stands at 20. Eleven new pieces of machinery and fertilizer were handed over by the government between 2020 and 2024. All the equipment, Mustapha said, was earmarked for the agriculture sector and in housing areas to improve drainage and residents’ livelihoods. The equipment was procured through the NDIA. A work programme will be established to manage the equipment’s usage in different communities, with machines to be allocated to the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) and the Anna Regina Town Council.
Mustapha said that these interventions underscore government’s commitment to the sector. The Essequibo Coast, for the first time is cultivating 36,000 acres of rice this season, he said. With the increased acreage, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) expects to exceed 700,000 tons of rice production. He told the gathering that $4 billion was invested in the region to strengthen the agricultural industry.
Meanwhile, Madanlall Ramraj, Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, assured the gathering that the government had listened to residents’ requests for machinery and had acted to meet those needs while Regional Chairperson Vilma De Silva expressed her gratitude to the NDIA for the much-needed equipment, acknowledging its benefits to residents’ livelihoods. She praised the government for focusing on the expansion of farmlands, pointing out that the region’s many cash crops are now in full production.
