THE Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI) has funded a Hinterland Poultry Project valued more than $120 million (US$608,000) to boost the poultry industry in the hinterland regions.

According to a release, the initiative, also called the ‘EggSandwich Project’, is the first regional socioeconomic project to be funded by the GGI. It is focused on enabling the hinterland residents raise their local poultry capacity, thereby enhancing consumer access to high quality local poultry products and economic independence.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on February 22 with local company, The Consultancy Group (TCG), which is the implementation partner for the project. TCG will work with the Rupununi Livestock Producers Association (RLPA) to grow poultry production in the hinterland.

Explaining their role in the project, TCG’s Lead Consultant, Timothy McIntosh, said, “Our job is really to take them at a place where they’re able to take the really fantastic work that they’ve been doing in the Rupununi outwards to the other hinterland regions. Our job is really as stewards to help them along, get them to where they need to be.”

The consultant noted that, in 2018, an estimated $300 million in poultry meat was imported into the Rupununi from Brazil. This project, he said, can benefit some 25,000 people from the hinterland as it will have a positive impact by reducing imports, and providing a fresh and healthy alternative.

President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, noted that the project was geared towards sustainable development as part of the Greater Guyana Initiative.

“It is exciting. It is where we implement the GGI. …. So far, we’ve been getting traction with the educational part of it, whether it’s TVET, the University of Guyana … this is the first significant project which is getting to the sustainable economy part. Education, of course, builds that foundation but this is helping more practically,” he said.

Routledge stressed the importance that EEPGL places on ensuring that Guyanese across the country benefit from the petroleum sector, not just through revenue but by projects such as GGI.

CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited’s (CPGL) Regional Manager, Anand Gohil and Projects Controls Manager, Huang Zhao, were also in attendance at the signing.

The Greater Guyana Initiative was launched in February 2021. It is a 10-year, US$100 million programme under which ExxonMobil and its co-venturers Hess and CPGL will fund capacity-building projects in keeping with the country’s overall development objectives, the release said.