The announcement was made by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill during a recent consultation with residents of the community and surrounding areas.
According to Edghill, Cabinet will have the final say on the project but he does not anticipate the application being denied.
This is in light of the fact that the project was already approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other stakeholders including residents.
The application for the development of the airstrip was made by rice miller Mahindra Persaud on behalf of Nand Persaud and Company Limited. The company envisions using the airstrip to facilitate the spraying of rice fields.
According to the rice miller, an airstrip in that community will boost rice production.
“Because of the expansion of agriculture land, it is important to have an airstrip. There is a shortage of labour at many times and especially in times like these where you find that the workers refuse to work with the farmer, the reason for this because of the journey to get to the backdam through the thick mud.”
He revealed that on many occasions, labourers would work for two days and then take one or more days off. This Persaud makes life very difficult for farmers noting that on many occasions farmers cannot spray the required chemicals on time.
“Sometimes that cannot apply fertilizer on time because they have to wait for the workers. Rice is a short-life crop and anything you do should be done on the specific date. For that reason we realised that we should start the process for an airstrip,” Persaud explained.
The only concerns raised by residents about this project is the type of chemicals that will be used. But these concerns were addressed by the applicant.
