“TODAY, rice that we produce we have added value to it, and created new opportunities for this Region,” were the encouraging words of President Donald Ramotar at a ground-breaking event in Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast yesterday to formally launch a $100M Rice Cereal Manufacturing Facility in Region Two.More than 200 jobs will be created for persons living along the Essequibo Coast in the near future with the establishment of the rice cereal factory. The rice cereal is branded ‘Morning Glory’.

President Ramotar lauded the initiative as he noted that this is a step in the right direction to add value to rice and rice products.
“We are meeting today at a very happy and important occasion to launch the construction of a factory to produce in the first instance rice cereal, and the first step to add value to our product”.

The President noted that the players in his, as well as successive PPP/C Governments, are collectively “prize takers”, in that “we have moved the production of rice from a mere 60,000 tonnes in 1990 to some 600,000 tonnes today.”

The Guyanese Head of State recalled that, sometime ago, the Government had said, “We are looking at ways to diversify our rice; and today, this is one of the ways that we are doing so.”

He explained that, when this new factory comes on stream, the rice cereal can be produced from any grade of rice and “still fetch the price that we have set.”

President Ramotar remains resolute that the PPP/C Government will never allow the rice industry to fail, contrary to what the political Opposition wants.
The Guyanese Head of State declared to loud applause: “We have the confidence that rice will never fail, and under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government, we will never allow it to fail!”

President Ramotar also lauded the Director of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Dr. Suresh Narine, for aggressively pushing the Rice Cereal Project, as well as the Region Two community for their genuine support and total involvement in the project.

The President also assured residents of Anna Regina that his government will continue to work to create more employment opportunities and also to further develop the Essequibo Coast.
The project will, in its first phase, create some 105 direct jobs for our young people.

Dr. Suresh Narine, in his remarks, explained in details to those gathered at the sod-turning ceremony what this important project is all about. He also thanked the Essequibians for their support and collaboration, saying: “What we produce must be of a high quality, and this facility that will be built will be the pride of the community.”

Dr. Narine noted that the factory would have an initial capacity to process 2000 tonnes of rice yearly; but, he said, the plant is designed to process to an extended 30,000 tonnes of rice yearly.

“With 400 grammes of rice, we can process and package and be able to resell that for $600 to $700. That is added value,” he stressed.

An upbeat Dr. Narine, who is an award winning and globally recognised Professor, said that with all this new development, “I still have more news for you! Today, we are also launching our nutritional bar, also made from rice!”

Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul emphasised that Government was doing everything to promote the rice industry; and “this project is one of the ways that we are diversifying our rice!”.
“Today we have made this project a reality, and (have) given pride to this community, as well as provided jobs for our young people,” Dr Gopaul said.

His colleague Minister in Government, Mr. Irfaan Ali, who was also present at yesterday’s event, was high in praise for the project. He noted that rice farmers and residents, especially of Region Two, will benefit significantly from this initiative which is all part of the country’s overall development plan.

On this note Minister Ali alluded to the significant improvements in the lives of Guyanese – in most if not all the facets of their social life.

“Life today has changed from the life of yesterday…the development that we are seeing and experiencing is not by accident, but is by having a vision to move our people forward,” Minister Ali said.

Ali, who has ministerial port-folio responsibilities for Housing and Water, as well as Tourism, Industry and Commerce, described the rice project as “a dream which this Government has made into a reality.” He also encouraged residents to continue supporting and collaborating with the contractors; and their unanimous response was “Yes!”

“You must feel pride today that this product is home grown and comes from your fields”, he told the rice farmers and residents of Region Two.

Minister Ali also told the residents that Government is in the process of building a Call Centre in Essequibo that would create some 1000 jobs. He noted that under the Small Business Grants, 300 persons would be given grants of up to $300,000 to start their own business.

“We will be training these new entrepreneurs, and also facilitating them with the grant to start up their business,” he said.
Moreover, he assured residents that: “This Government will never allow the rice industry to fail! We will do all in our power to have this industry continue to thrive.”

Government will invest $100 million into the project to produce a facility which has the capacity to produce five metric tonnes of breakfast cereal daily. The funding has been secured under the Rural Development Fund, administered by the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry.

By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally