Georgetown: Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy said Government was still to receive word from its Trinidadian counterpart on the way forward in relation to the agricultural land deal pending between the two countries.
Guyana and Trinidad back in 2013 had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), opening up avenues for Trinidadian investors to use Guyana’s lands for agricultural purposes. At the signing ceremony, Minister Ramsammy and Trinidad’s Food Production Minister, Devant Maharaj had said the programme was developed to address the need to improve food security and reduce the food import bill of the two countries.
Back in December last year, investors from the twin-island republic visited and had begun screening Guyana’s landscape with particular focus on the Canje Basin and Intermediate Savannahs. Discussions then were focused on investment incentives in Guyana, foreign agricultural investments here and the Trinidadian company Cooperative Citrus Growers, land availability, soil types and market trade logistics.
Though no agreement was signed then, Ramsammy had said the discussions had taken the countries one step closer to fulfilling the objective of the MoU, which was designed to facilitate TT investment in Guyana for agricultural production. According to him, the next step would have been the presentation of scoping proposals for potential investment even as dialogue continued between the two countries.
However, in an invited comment on Thursday, Ramsammy told the Guyana Timesthat he was still awaiting those proposals from the business groups. While certain projects had been identified during another recent visit, the groups were still to submit their proposals to Guyana’s Government. He said, however, that there has been progress on the extension of Cooperative Citrus Growers’ citrus plantations and they were moving towards preparing concentrates.
According to the Trinidadian Food Production Minister, his country imports around 90 per cent of its citrus from Belize and Costa Rica and he could not see why the same could not come from its closest neighbor, Guyana.
Trinidadian investors are interested in six products including corn, soya, sorghum and fruits. According to the Trinidad Minister, corn is needed for the poultry industry there.
Minister Ramsammy had said the scope of work presented by the Trinidadian investors will determine the sites, but emphasised that the primary focus was on the Canje Basin and Intermediate Savannahs. He explained that the Intermediate Savannahs is an area of interest because there is already a Trinidadian company, Cooperative Citrus Growers, operating in the vicinity. Cooperative Citrus Growers was allotted 1000 acres of land, of which 200 acres are already under cultivation and another 200 acres are being cultivated.
The TT Food Production Minister echoed similar sentiments, noting too that thus far, the investors were impressed.
The MoU between the two countries addressed programmes and activities; core areas of cooperation, monitoring and coordinating mechanism; mutual responsibility, commitments and settlements; rights and obligations, and scope for termination.
Recognising that global food insecurity remains a major problem across the world due to rising food prices amid declining food production levels due to climate change, the parties had signed the agreement in their quest to reduce their food import bills. For Trinidad, this plan is in keeping with its National Food Production Action Plan 2012-2015.
The MoU provides guidance for the development, promotion and strengthening of bilateral cooperation between the countries through the development of joint ventures and activities that will contribute significantly to promotion of food security, but it does not impose action targets for either Guyana or Trinidad.
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