– PM urges West Coast Berbice

RESIDENTS of Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), farmers and agricultural producers were on Saturday night urged to learn how to convert raw materials into semi-finished and finished products, and to establish the cottage industries which are necessary to maximise the great agricultural potential of the region.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo made this appeal to exhibitors and visitors at the start of the two-day Business Exposition and Trade Fair in Region Five, held  by the West Berbice Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WBCIC) at Bath Settlement.

He said Region Five had great potential for production of wealth, but lacked the existence of a vibrant agro-industry.

He said: “Bath Settlement produces the best eschallot in the country, but I am yet to see a nicely illustrated bottle with eschallot named ‘Bath Eschallot’.

“The same goes for salted fish; I am yet to see a nicely-packaged brand-name salt fish that can be exported regionally or internationally,” he said.

He said those were the kinds of value-added activities which would generate wealth and create jobs for the unemployed within the region.

He urged the visitors to see the Expo as an eye-opener to the possibilities that exist for acquiring loans and machinery to develop the badly needed agro-industrial sector.

He said: “This Expo should be historically an eye-opener for Region Five and West Berbice, in that you can also look at what others in other regions are producing — what they have canned (and) what they have bottled — and you can also tell yourself that you can do the same and can do better.”

He said the Expo is being held at the same time that Guyana is observing its 50th anniversary of independence, and should be seen by all producers as a new beginning for commerce and industry in Region Five and in West Berbice.

Speakers at the opening session, chaired by Sandie Ross and Pradeep Bachan, included Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Mr Vickchand Ramphal, Regional Chairman of Region Five; Mr Roderick Edinboro, Regional Executive Officer of Region Five; and Mr Imran Saccoor, President of the WBCIC.

The Exposition and Fair is being held under the theme “Transforming Region Five for a Better Guyana”, and also honours the 50th Independence Anniversary.
It ends today.

(Clifford Stanley)