– explains other agriculture expenditure
AGRICULTURE Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has defended the $4 billion Government has provided for GuySuCo in the 2012 National Budget. In his contribution to the debate in the National Assembly, on Wednesday evening, he told the House that the money will be going to an industry that has supported Guyana for decades, noting that the corporation spends $1.8 billion annually for community drainage and provides medical services to the tune of $27M, annually, for workers.
Ramsammy criticised the Opposition for, according to him, harping, continuously, about mismanagement within the industry without analysing the impact of the 36 percent European price cut and the $8 billion loss per annum that resulted.
In addition, he lamented that the Opposition has failed to acknowledge that the industry has had to cushion the impact of the value of the Euro versus the U.S. dollar.
“If it were not for the workers of GuySuCo, this industry would have failed a long time ago and, in spite of their concerns and difficulties, the sugar workers have responded because they know that this industry is important to them, their community and this country and, for that reason, I stood firm that no matter what it takes, sugar workers must be guaranteed their Annual Production Incentive (API),”he pointed out.
GOOD SHAPE
Ramsammy praised the management of GuySuCo, for being able to manage the corporation in a manner that places it in good shape, thus overcoming the enormous challenges.
He disclosed that, in 2011, revenue from sugar increased by $6.4 billion and there is a projected increase of $1.2 billion in 2012, because of better price negotiations, strategies in the export market, and a rise in value-added products.
With regards to the economy, Ramsammy observed that Guyana is rated as one of the best countries in the Caribbean, in terms of debt management (below 47 percent).
Contrary to what the Opposition has been saying, he said one would agree that the country is better off today than it was many years ago. Though it is not better off the way some people want, more persons have jobs, better salaries, have access to better health care, water, education and there are more professionals, he informed.
Ramsammy said people should not be intolerant but believe that the country can do much better.
He chided Alliance for Change (AFC) MP, Moses Nagamootoo for seeking to create an impression, in his presentation, that Guyana is, currently, more indebted than ever before.
Ramsammy said, at present, Guyana’s debt stands at less than $1 billion, compared to when it stood at $2.1 billion in 1992, with foreign debt being 700 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at that time.
MANY CHALLENGES
The minister said many challenges still exist but the Government stands firmly committed to overcome them at all costs.
Responding to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) MP, Ronald Bulkan, who lamented the decline in the fisheries sector, Ramsammy said, even though this is a fact, all the other sub-sectors within the agriculture sector have improved and are flourishing immensely, particularly rice.
He explained that the decrease was due to a deliberate move as Guyana’s export of marine fish had to be carefully managed.
“Agriculture has always been important to our development and Budget 2012 continues the tradition of investment in agriculture in such a manner that it must retain its place as indispensible on our development trajectory,” Ramsammy said.
In 2012 some $15.6 billion has been budgeted for the sector; in 2011 more than $10 billion were expended while, in 2010, the sum was $9 billion. The 2012 investments translate to more than $100 per capita for agriculture compared to $5 per capita in 1991, he stated.
Ramsammy told the House that agriculture has always been a catalyst in Guyana’s development and, today, it contributes almost 25 percent to the economy, accounts for more than 33 percent of direct employment and generates almost 50 percent of export earnings.
OVERCOMING BARRIERS
“We will intensify our efforts to diversify and modernise the sector, overcoming barriers that presently exist. We will continue to enhance genetic stocks with improved varieties of crops and breeds of livestock; seek to improve access to more affordable fertilisers, more effective financing arrangement; improve availability and access to land; further enhance drainage and irrigation and farm to market roads; ensure stronger and wider markets and enhance weather-related disaster management,” he pledged.
Ramsammy said water management is not a new priority for agriculture and this will continue and he reminded that Dawa, Manarabisi and Mibicuri pumps were all dysfunctional prior to 1992 and, in the Numbers 52-74 area, of the 22,000 acres of land only 1,000 acres could have been cultivated as a result of lack of water.