-President Ali says pepper, honey production on the cards Susannah’s Rust
-aim is to empower households by making use of thousands of acres of unused land
PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali has said that over the last four year, the government has made major investments in communities in the Demerara River area and noted that with large lands available, the production of various crops is possible.
The Head of State made these remarks while visiting the Susannah’s Rust community along the Demerara River on Sunday, where he stated that although it is a small community, it has the production capacity given the thousands of acres of arable land which can be used for food production.
This, he said, is why the government continues to invest in the community and others like it.
“We invest in you because we care about you. We invest in you because we believe in you and we invest in you because we know that you have the possibility of great productivity, great culture and a major part of ensuring our country achieve its full potential.”
Dr Ali noted that during his previous visits while in opposition, many residents of the community raised concerns about the flooding and even the Because We Care cash grant being taken away.
He said these things stayed with him and as such it was ensured that when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) got back into office, they implemented measures that would bring immediate benefit to the people of the country.
Against this backdrop, he said that from an education standpoint alone, over $3.5 million has been invested in the community in the last four years and of that, $2.8 million has been put back into the pockets of the children.
Further to this, he added that if one is to look at the infrastructure works that have been undertaken in the village, some $12.8 million has been invested in this. However, the largest of these investments happen to be in agriculture which saw an investment of some $107 million.
These types of investments, according to President Ali will continuously increase.
“This small community is connected to thousands of acres of land that were not in productive use. That is why we are investing now to convert thousands of acres of land into productive use so that you can earn and so that your community can earn and your life can get better,” President Ali added.
As he told residents that the outreach was set to be an interactive one, he noted that they are looking to the future and to find innovative and resilient ways to empower all households in the community.
Against this backdrop, he said that he would like for all households to have a shade house with which the government will assist in its set up and provision of seed materials to start production.
President Ali said officials would want them to concentrate on doing peppers such as the hot pepper which Guyana already has a market for.
“We are going to help [with] the setting up but we have to agree on a price because we have one distributor that will come and take all the pepper from here but that price must be viable for everyone,” he remarked.
Further to this, he indicated that they want the entire Demerara River to get into honey production, along with high-value or value-added products that come with it.
Meanwhile, Dr Ali said that if one is to take the total investments made this far in Susannah’s Rust, it amounts to more than $160 million for the community which has 120 residents.
He added that these investments are made so that the government can make the lives of everyone in the community better.
