During a meeting with rice farmers from the Essequibo Coast on Friday, Agriculture Minister Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha said that, over the past four years, the government has invested tremendously to develop the region and cautioned them to not fall victim to political gimmicks by anti-government operatives.
He told farmers that the government has a rich history of supporting the development of all the sectors and that farmers were never left to fend for themselves as was the case on many occasions under the previous administration.
“This is the time you will see people coming around to make promises to you, but do not be fooled. These are the same people who promised you $9,000 for a bag of paddy, but when they got into office, said rice was a private business. In 2019, farmers were being paid the lowest price for paddy – $2,900 – with no intervention from the APNU/AFC government. They also promised that farmers would have enough money from the Petrocaribe fund, but when they got into government, they lost that market. That was the most lucrative market at the time. We had to find money to give back to the farmers whose paddy was procured under that deal but never received payment. Last year, we paid out $480 million to farmers. It was in the budget. Dr. Singh took it to Parliament, and we found the money to pay the farmers. Do not forget about the contract that was signed with Panama under our government prior to 2015. That contract was for another lucrative market that was doing well before we left office. When the APNU/AFC took office, they also lost that market. But they didn’t just lose the market, they abandoned the farmers who were owed $1.7 billion for rice shipped to Panama. It wasn’t until we got back into government that negotiations took place and farmers were paid. His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali held negotiations with the President of Panama so that we could recoup the money for the farmers who sold their paddy while the APNU/AFC was in office,” Minister Mustapha explained.
Minister Mustapha also said that over the last four years, sixteen additional pieces of machinery were added to the region’s fleet of machinery.
“This party, this government, has a rich history of supporting all of the sectors in this country. The rice sector has had tremendous support over the years under the PPP/C government. Before 2015, this region had eight pieces of machinery. When the PPP/C got back into office in 2020, the region still had eight pieces of machinery. In just over four years, 16 pieces of machinery were added to the region’s fleet. The region now has 24 pieces of machinery, which include excavators, graders, bulldozers, and the list goes on. Additionally, in the coming weeks, we’ll be handing over mini excavators to the various NDCs and municipalities in the region,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, told farmers that the government has stood by farmers’ sides in every season. He also told the farmers that they should be mindful of the people who will visit their communities to make promises with the hope of convincing them not to support the government in the upcoming General and Regional Elections.
“You know the recent political history of our country. We are in 2025. There will be an election in 2025, and because there will be an election in 2025, you will see all sorts of characters suddenly surfacing and floating around making all sorts of promises in the hope that they can convince people either to vote for them or not to vote for the PPP or not to vote at all. They will make all sorts of statements and promises because we are a few months away from an election. But you know, you have in the People’s Progressive Party a party that has stood on your side and on the side of the people of Guyana in every season. You don’t only see members of the PPP’s leadership coming to your communities a few months before elections and making all sorts of fancy promises to you. Our President, our General Secretary, our Executive Secretary, members of our Central Executive Committee, and representatives of the leadership of our party have been in every community through every season in our country’s history. We’ve been here in good times and in bad times,” Dr. Singh explained.
Minister Mustapha also said that the government has invested heavily to improve the drainage and irrigation infrastructure in the Pomeroon and across the Essequibo Coast. He also said that the government, through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), will be procuring 40 additional pumps and rehabilitating some 63 sluices across the country before the end of 2025.
“When you look at the expenditure and the investment made in the region, it’s tremendous. For instance, in the Pomeroon, we resuscitated the entire agricultural landscape. Prior to 2015, that was one of the most productive areas in the country under our government. Because of the neglect of the APNU/AFC government, the Pomeroon became an area where many farmers were unable to plant. When we got back into government, the President visited farms in Pomeroon and implemented a programme to assist farmers with critical infrastructure. Hundreds, if not thousands of acres of bed-and-drains were done. We built up the beds so that the farms would not be flooded. We also did block drainage and spent over $500 million to dredge the Pomeroon River. These were direct investments to develop the sector. What did the previous government do for farmers? They bought some useless, undersized pumps and installed about three on the Essequibo Coast. Now we have to try and recoup our money from the contractor in India because the pumps are not functioning. We are now building proper pump stations. One was recently commissioned at Cozier. Another one was commissioned at Andrews. We are also building another one at Charity, and by the end of this year, we’ll procure another 40 pumps and rehabilitate another 63 sluices around the country,” Minister Mustapha said.
