–170 hampers distributed to persons along the ECD

IN a bid to support several East Coast Demerara (ECD) fisherfolk who have been faced with economic hardships because of low catches, the Ministry of Agriculture, on Wednesday, donated some 170 hampers.

Persons from the communities of Mon Repos, Lusignan, and Annandale gathered at the Lusignan Community Centre, where the hampers were handed over by Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha.

Roy Singh, a fisherman from Annandale related to the Guyana Chronicle that the last few months have been difficult for him, since his catch has been low. This, Singh said, has left him fighting to make ends meet with the little he has.

He said that while the hamper distribution is a small gesture, he is thankful for the interest shown by the Agriculture Minister. The hamper, he said, will help ease some of his burdens.

Meanwhile, another fisherfolk by the name of Mala (only name given), also expressed her gratitude for the assistance.

The woman who hails from Mon Repos, related, like the many other fisherfolk, the last few months had been difficult; however, the donations came as a timely relief.

While engaging the gathering, Minister Mustapha said fisherfolk were some of the most hard-working persons in Guyana and that the government was aware that fishermen, for some time, had been faced with hardships due to low catches.

“We are working assiduously to see how we could help the fisherfolk… we are looking to diversify, we are looking at marine fishing now. Not only in Guyana but around the world we are seeing catches going down, this shows that we are having serious problems with climate change,” the Agriculture Minister said.

He added that the donation should be seen as a small gesture and that the government will be implementing initiatives such as the “marine cage culture” to assist fishermen to improve their production.

To this end, Minister Mustapha said: “We are starting to develop the aquaculture industry and we want to work with you the fisherfolk. We will work with the marine fisherfolk where we will start a cage culture. When we work out the income, one marine cage can give a marine fisherfolk almost $8 million annually.”

The minister further vowed to support fishermen and other agriculture stakeholders.

“As a government, we are trying to ensure that we fulfill all our promises to the Guyanese people. We have been going around all across this country not only rice farmers or cash crop farmers, fisherfolks and everybody in the agriculture sector. Our objective is to ensure that you get maximum returns when you go out there,” Minister Mustapha said.