MINISTER of Agriculture Mr. Robert Persaud yesterday received five pieces of reconditioned heavy duty machinery to assist with ongoing works in the drainage and irrigation sector and for the rehabilitation of farm to market roads. The minister said the two excavators and three bulldozers procured from Farm Supplies Limited, GUYTRAC, and Machinery Corporation of Guyana (MACORP) were procured at a total cost of about $300 million. The handing over took place at the Square of the Revolution, where the items were on display.

“We have procured [these equipment] through a competitive bidding process and that is why you see we have a range of companies now. Originally there would have been one or two suppliers. But we are looking in terms of having a number of suppliers having different types of equipment. We are now expanding our fleet of excavators and bulldozers. We have eight bulldozers and in excess of 67 excavators,” the Agriculture Minister said.

Government, he said, is investing in these items since it is more economical for the government to have its own equipment “because in the long run we are able to save money and have rapid deployment.”

The minister said, too, that the equipment pay back for themselves in six months because of the savings that the Government is able to make through their use, as against using contractors.

Government has been purchasing huge bulldozers because of the need to maintain and build farm to market roads, since the lack of these is a constraint to agriculture.

“We will use some of these to develop pastures for livestock but we have larger and larger areas being taken up for farmlands given the growing needs of farmers and to cope with the realities of climate change,” said Minister Persaud.

“This investment by the Government will allow us to be able to service our farmers better and, at the end of the day, save money and use money wisely. I know there may be people in the contracting community who might not be pleased with this, but at the end of the day, we have an obligation to the people of Guyana to have the best deal for them,” the minister said.

He said that because of the lack of the requisite capacity to conduct daily operations and maintenance of the equipment, the ministry will be outsourcing such expertise to the private sector.

Turning to the increased fuel prices and its effect on Government’s operations, Persaud said that the cost of operation is going up as a result. Government has had to realign and readjust budgets accordingly. “But the reality would have been the same if we had gone to private contractors. They would have charged more,” the minister added.