In a similar way in which Government has co-invested with the private sector for call centres aimed at providing employment, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo noted that the Government is inclined to pursue a similar policy in agro-processing, particularly in the hinterland.
During a recent press conference, Jagdeo noted that even as the government has made great strides in the agricultural sector, processing and the related cost of energy has been a constraint for potential local investors.
While the oil and gas sector has been directly benefitting most people on the coast, Jagdeo was of the view that supporting the agricultural sector in more hinterland areas could be the Government’s way of ensuring they reap the benefits of the sector, as well as advance the value-added agriculture sub-sector.
“We have to focus. Those communities can’t do much on oil and gas. That’s why we have to push the agri-investments so our people who live in these regions are not left behind, in the remote regions of the country. That they’re not left behind in the national development. We want all our people to move forward.”
“The government is prepared to put the investment in. Even co-investing in processing facilities with business. So, if they produce the stuff, we can co-invest with someone to get this done. Like we’re co-investing in some other areas on the call centres,” Jagdeo said.
Here, he made reference to the two call centres currently being built at Palmyra and in the Upper Corentyne of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The call centres are being built under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement and each of the facilities will have the capacity for 150 seats.
It is a similar strategy to what the previous PPP/C Government did in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) with a call centre at Kara Kara – a project that was abandoned under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government but which has since been resuscitated under the current Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government and now employs hundreds of Lindeners under new management.
Jagdeo noted that once completed, the State will turn over the buildings to a private enterprise that will operate the call centre and provide employment to hundreds of locals. When it comes to Guyana’s agricultural sector and the leadership it has taken in the Region, Jagdeo explained that Guyana took the position it did because of the lack of policy focus on agriculture in the Region.
“Our agriculture growth has been a steady, significant one. We’ve stepped back only in sugar. But almost every sector. The Region fell back. That was a regional initiative. And you had about eight or nine constraining factors to agriculture. One of which was scale of investment.”
“If you look around the Caribbean, very few people invest in agriculture. On drainage and irrigation or anything of the sort. Except for the five years under APNU, our budget for the farm to market roads, drainage and irrigation, the lifeblood of agriculture, skyrocketed. Secondly, fiscal concessions.”
He pointed out that in many Caribbean countries, investors in the tourism sector can get a plethora of concessions. However, the same could not be said for investors in agriculture. Jagdeo contrasted this with Guyana’s approach, where there was an extensive removal of taxes on fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural equipment.
For the majority of Guyana’s history, the cost of energy has been a sticking point hampering the development of the local manufacturing sector. However, the Government has long theorised that the gas-to-energy project will change this.
