Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, has encouraged farmers of Jib, a community along the Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), to produce fruits on a large scale for export and local consumption.
During her interaction with the farmers, the Minister explained that beverage giant, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) often sources fruits locally to produce its Topco juices however, the firm encounters challenges in getting sufficient supplies.
“So, we also need to get into the production of guava and pineapples and cherries and so on to be able to feed into the factory that Topco has, so that we’ll be able to produce juices that can be used not only by us in Guyana but to export.”
She said discussions are underway for the opening of more farmlands in the region, which will allow farmers to produce more crops for manufacturing and export. The Minister said this will also create more job opportunities for residents in the region.
“There were discussions last night with the private sector about opening up more lands in the Poomeroon, in areas for farming, for developments, for small farmers etcetera.
“We are looking at Essequibo in terms of the developmental plan…so that we can open up areas and have people have small plots, 25 acres plus larger plantation type plots where farmers come together and grow certain crops,” Minister Teixeira told the residents.
Meanwhile, the Minister said residents who lost crops following the recent flooding will be compensated. She said the Government is working to ensure that farmers could return to the land as soon as possible.
“So, we are trying to do these things to make sure that people are taken care of…we are also trying to improve the number of the services we offer in terms of making things easier for people to access services.”
The scheduled meeting was part of the President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali-led outreach to the region at the weekend. [Extracted and Modified from DPI]
