Dear Editor,
THE President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali, was the subject of severely harsh criticisms and venomous ridicule to the extent of being made a mockery by Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall, on his Radio Programme on January 14, 2022. This was not only distasteful, unprofessional and disrespectful but he lacks evidence to support his presentation. This programme has now descended into pure unadulterated hogwash.

President Ali, speaking to stakeholders during the launch of the government’s Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), had made a strong commitment that his government will not sit idly and allow the fishing industry to fall and will find innovative solutions. According to President Ali, a marine cage project will soon be established and ‘each of those marine cages can bring in a net value of close to $8 million annually’. Moreover, he added that, we are looking at marine cages in the rivers where the water is flowing so that we can grow tilapia there in a more natural environment.  He further added that Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, will host consultations with fishermen and women about the new plan. The President emphasised that operations costs will be reduced and profits gained will enhance the livelihood of residents. Mr Lall referred to the President’s statement as ‘coming from an international comic book or from a Scifi movie…and we do not have clowns anymore but comedians’ as leaders. His scorn, contempt and derisive laughter spoke volumes about his ulterior intentions, which was not to be informative at all. He twisted and distorted everything with his half-truths and innuendos.

According to Mr Lall, he is baffled about the source of the President’s information or who fed it to him. He referred to this as ‘Brer Anancy’ story. He even misquoted to promote a comical effect. He quoted the President as saying that the marine cage will provide a ‘relaxed environment’ to rear Tilapia. The President spoke about a ‘natural environment’. He further claimed that marine cages never ‘worked anywhere in the world… but is at experimental stages since 2014’ and named Japan, California, Canada, some parts of Europe, etcetera. He then claimed that a friend had given him some Tilapia reared on a farm in Essequibo and it had an ‘artificial taste’. Mr Lall then disputed the estimated revenue of $8 million per cage annually which the President gave. He claimed that Suriname and Venezuela both have oil but they have fish, only Guyana is suffering this shortage.

Unfortunately, if Mr Lall is interested in a proper research he would have found out that: ‘Fish cage farming is practiced all over the world. By keeping fish in cages and a “fish holding pen”, entire communities can share a body of water, while each farmer can tend to their own individual fish farm.

Fish cage and fish holding pen farming is attractive to many individuals because a large crop can be raised, tended and harvested in a small area. Since the fish are in a concentrated area, problems can be quickly recognised and addressed.’(https://sciencing.com/about-5489412-fish-cage-farming.html)

Moreover, after years of effort, Japan now has the most advanced fish farming in the world. ‘Saltwater fish farming began in Japan in 1927, in the calm waters of the Seto Inland Sea. The project involved stringing a net across the mouth of a narrow cove, then feeding the yellowtail and sea bream that remained inside.’(https://www.google.com/search?q=fish+cgae+farming+in+japan&oq=fish+cgae+farming+in+japan) All the countries which Mr Lall mentioned in his show are all actively involved in aquaculture. He can do his research. They are not at ‘experimental stages’, Mr Lall.

Furthermore, Mr Lall seemed confused about the term ‘aquaculture’ and is of the opinion that fish cage farming cannot be classified as ‘aquaculture’. However, the term ‘aquaculture’ is often used to refer to fish holding pen and fish cage farming. In general, the aquaculture definition is “the rearing or farming of aquatic animals/plants for food. This includes, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, algae and aquatic plants’. (https://sciencing.com/about-5489412-fish-cage-farming.html)

In addition, ‘the current stock of wild fish around the world is greatly depleted and most of the fish found in the markets are from aquaculture. The demand for fish raised on organic farms is going to be even greater because of the freshness, the taste, and the fact that they are rebased in a natural environment, devoid of chemicals and unnatural elements.’(https://www.agrifarming.in/fish-farming-profit-per-acre-in-india-economics-report). This fish scarcity is not due to EXXON in Guyana waters and fish cage farming does enhance the taste and quality of fish.

According to an article titled Fish Farming for the Future, ‘Aquaculture will soon supply the majority of seafood for human consumption. Creating a sustainable fish farming industry for the future will require that we minimise its use of wild fish stocks, pollution, disease, farmed fish escapes and habitat damage.’ (https://www.livingoceans.org/initiatives/sustainable-seafood/issues/fish-farming-the-future) For the last 30 years, the high end of fish farming has been dominated by Atlantic salmon, a $15.4-billion industry. Atlantic salmon has become one of the most profitable fish to grow and is slightly better than chicken in terms of how well it converts feed into body mass.’

Aquaculture is an extremely profitable industry and the return on investment quoted by the President is a conservative one. In India, it is estimated that the net profit per acre is Rs 150,000 or US$2,010 per annum. This means that a 100 acre farm can earn a net profit of US$201,000 or $42 million Guyana Dollars per annum. (https://www.agrifarming.in/fish-farming-profit-per-acre-in-india-economics-report)

Lastly, on January 7, 2022, Mr Lall wants Guyanese to believe that the export revenue earned from cash crops or any privately owned business, including rice, does not add to the enrichment of the country as a whole but enrich private individuals. But the most comical effect was the fact that he read and misinterpreted the Guyana Chronicle’s headline which he claimed read, ‘Guyana Earns US$30 million from Export of Non-Traditional Crops’ but the headline actually reads, ‘Guyana earns $2.6 B from Export of Non-Traditional Crops’. Imagine a headline being distorted. But the worse is that Mr Lall interpreted ‘non-traditional crop’ to mean ‘bigan, bora, ochro and pumpkin’. If he had read further he would have seen that these are crops which were not traditionally exported and these are ‘fruits, vegetables, seasonings, grain crops, oil seeds, root and tuber crops’. Moreover, Mr Lall allows basic economics to elude him. Goods produced by the private sector which included the agriculture sector are included in the gross domestic product (GDP) and hence the national income, the size of which influences the standard of living of people in a country. But Mr Lall is of the opinion that, ‘Guyana gets nothing out of that, it does not belong to the country but a few private people hustling to make a living’.
Is this man for real auntie and uncle? Beware people! Mr Lall has a political agenda!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf