President Dr Irfaan Ali today announced an initiative that will see several Amerindian communities in the Rupununi benefiting from over $100 million in interventions including one million pounds of cassava to be distributed across Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Essequibo).
These interventions by the government come on the heels of residents facing massive destruction of their crops due to the dry weather conditions and wildfires that have been wreaking havoc across the Upper Takutu-Essequibo region recently.
In fact, during an outreach at Potarinau in Region Nine on Friday, an official from the South Central Rupununi village of Quiko requested assistance.
“I’m requesting on behalf of Quiko and the rest of villages, to you and your government, support financially or some [other] sort of support since our cassava crops have been damaged by heat or wildfire, leaving us with next to nothing,” the resident stated.
President Ali immediately informed the gathering that some 500,000 lbs of cassava was brought in to be distributed to the Deep South communities. He added another 500,000 lbs of cassava would be brought in for the communities in the South-Central area.
The Head of State subsequently told residents of Nappi Village during another outreach today that this intervention had started days before any requests were made.
“We knew that you’re suffering because of the weather and the cassava crop was bad, and heat destroyed the cassava… Without you asking – although we did not plan for, we did not budget for it – three days ago, we delivered 500,000 lbs of cassava to Deep South [worth] $20 million.”
“And in the coming week, in our eight communities in this sub-sector, we will deliver another 500,000 lbs of cassava, valued at $20 million and that is without the transportation costs. But I told the REO (Regional Executive Officer) to support you in these villages,” the President stated.
According to the Guyana Leader, this support will ensure that the communities have sustainability and value added in their production.
“Even without you asking, we are going to install a cassava mill and we’ll start it within 14 days right here to service these communities around here – another $20 million investment. By the time we’re finished on this one [cassava] initiative alone, we’ll spend more than $100 million that we did not budget for but which is expended because of the love which we have for you and the love which you have shared with us,” President Ali told Nappi residents.
The Head of State noted that Government is deeply concerned about the impact the current dry weather is having on communities with not just their crops but also their access to potable water.
Meanwhile, to support the economies in these villages, the President also announced plans to establish a ‘Buyers’ Hub’ – an initiative that will see members of the Men on Mission (MoM) taking excess produce from Amerindian communities in the Region and finding markets for them.
“We’ll procure those mangoes and fruits so that we can have a constant market for you and you can buy your excess production,” Ali stated.
