An investor from the South American country of Colombia is planning to import 1000 heads of cattle with the long-term aim of boosting beef production in Guyana.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has said that this is one investment that will support the creation of an international standard abattoir at Onverwagt, on the West Coast of Berbice in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
The Onverwagt abattoir, which is a $600M International Development Bank (IDB)-funded project, is expected to be completed within the next two months. The Agriculture Minister toured the site on Saturday.
The facility when completed is slated to be the main slaughtering area for cattle in the country.
“I think that this is situated in an ideal place where people from Region Six, Region Five, Region Four and other regions can use it. I think that this here is poised for major development in the cattle industry. This will complement what we are doing to improve the meat production; we are now improving our breed of animals and we have some major investors, especially one from Columbia who wants to start by investing 1000 heads of cattle for beef production,” Mustapha explained.
The Colombians, he said, have made a proposal to the Government, and the Government is currently looking at the land where the project can be executed. The Agriculture Ministry is currently working with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission on that aspect of the project along with the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary – Agricultural Development Authority. (MMA-ADA).
“MMA had some land and are looking to see if they can develop it. The Colombians asked for 1000 acres. So, if we can get it through the Lands and Surveys Commission, then they will have the investment but it is a very good investment proposal where they will be putting down a processing plant to process dairy products right in the area that they will be rearing the cattle.”
The Minister said he is eagerly looking forward to that investment, noting that very soon a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between his Ministry and the investors.
Meanwhile, the Minister pointed out that the facility speaks well for the future of the production of meat in the country.
“So you can see that it is an interlinked process that we are doing; the slaughtering of animals here but at the same time we are using the by-product to increase production in the agriculture sector,” he added.
He referred to the abattoir as being a major project in his Ministry and noted that he is satisfied with the current pace of work at the facility.
