THE National Assembly, on Monday, approved $5.49 billion in supplementary funds to advance works to further develop the agriculture sector.
During Monday’s sitting, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, who presented on behalf of the ministry, sought some $3.4 billion in additional funding to support the recapitalisation of the Guyana Sugar Corporation.
The minister said that since assuming office, the government has made a number of critical investments into the corporation to ensure that the estates identified for reopening are done in a timely manner.
“What we have done over the last two years is to replace a number of critical missing parts and continue the recapitalisation we started in 2020,” said Minister Mustapha.
He noted that the government will use these funds to make the factories modern and efficient while increasing production. To this end, he also recommitted to the full reopening of the Rose Hall Estate soon.
“The Rose Hall Estate will be reopened,” the minister said in response to a question from President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Seepaul Narine.
Minister Mustapha also told the House that, to date, GuySuCo has rehired 692 out of over 1, 000 persons who lost their jobs after the estates were closed by the previous administration.
Furthermore, some $1.278 billion in supplementary funds were approved for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), and some $218 million for the Mahaica/Mahaicony/ Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA-ADA).
These sums will be used to carry out much-needed drainage and irrigation work, as well as infrastructural works in the various cultivation areas across the country.
Additionally, some $221.89 million was also approved for the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). Part of this allocation will go towards providing additional support for the Black Belly Sheep project. Last Thursday, the first batch of Black Belly Sheep arrived from Barbados as part of a bilateral agreement between Guyana and Barbados to create a Caribbean brand of sheep to lower the importation of lamb and mutton products in an effort to support CARICOM’s Vision 25 by 2025 Initiative.
Meanwhile, some $300M was also approved to support the government’s $150,000 relief grant for persons earning a living at sea.
Back in May of this year, President, Dr Irfaan Ali announced a one-off $150,000 relief grant for fisherfolk earning a living at sea. This was intended to cushion the financial burden many fisherfolk were faced with given the decrease in catches over the past two years.
The Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, in a Facebook post on Monday, announced that the verification process for the grant would come to a close on Friday. Persons who registered were advised to check the lists posted at the various landing sites and identified locations to ensure their names were on the list. The post also said that persons can also report names that were wrongfully listed for the grant to the Fisheries Department or the Fisheries Officer from the various regions. (Ministry of Agriculture)
