–Mustapha tells Opposition after MP Jordan’s ‘GuySuCo revival’ comment stirs up laughter in the House
–says facts cannot be buried under prepared speeches, political rhetoric

IT didn’t take long for sparks to fly on day three of Guyana’s national budget debate, as Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and A Partnership for Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU) opposition member of parliament, Vinceroy Jordon locked horns during their presentations to the National Assembly.
Diving into the agriculture sector, with the country’s sugar industry at the heart of the debate, a testy war of words were exchanged, as both MPs laid down their vision for the sector.
Jordon proclaimed that the opposition would ‘revive’ the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

“Under the APNU+AFC, we will develop GuySuCo,” Jordon proclaimed, as the National Assembly erupted in laughter.
This brazen proclamation left many government MPs cackling at the irony, given that it was under the APNU+AFC administration that four sugar estates were shuttered and 7,000 persons were left jobless.
Opposition MPs, however, responded with enthusiastic desk-banging, as Jordan exceeded his allotted time, trying to cast blame on the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) for the collapse of the sugar industry.
This claim, however, goes against the extensive reports that indicated it was APNU+AFC’s policies that had dealt the industry its most serious blows.

Presenting these facts to counter Jordan’s argument in the National Assembly, Minister Mustapha, in a scathing rebuttal, cited the former coalition government’s commission of inquiry (COI) of the sugar industry.

Mustapha put forward a copy of the APNU+AFC’s COI, which had recommended against the closure of the sugar estates.
“When they see that the report was not in their favour, they said this is not Gospel…the reason they closed the sugar estate was because of political reason. They have a problem with sugar workers in this country. They think that sugar workers is supporting the PPP/CIVIC and they have to punish them,” the Agriculture Minister said.

Mustapha pointed out that during the APNU+AFC government’s tenure, sugar production dropped sharply, plummeting from approximately 231,000 tonnes in 2015 to just above 92,000 tonnes by 2019—an alarming 60 per cent reduction.
He further pointed out the PPP/C government has never laid off a single sugar worker, responding bluntly to Jordan’s claim that the sugar industry is plummeting under the current administration.
Mustapha further pointed to the significant progress made since 2020, including the mechanisation of 40 per cent of cultivation land and billions of dollars invested in upgrading the sugar factories.

He confidently stated that GuySuCo is set to achieve its goal of producing over 100,000 tonnes of sugar this year.
“The facts cannot be buried under prepared speeches and political rhetoric. Our young people need to know the truth. We should not come into this house with a prepared speech and bury our head and read from starting to end, let us debate,” Mustapha said, dismantling Jordan’s argument.

TESTIMONIALS
Further, challenging the opposition’s claims of ‘failure’ in the agricultural sector, Mustapha presented first-hand accounts from farmers who were left counting losses by the APNU+AFC government’s policies.
“I was stripped of the ability to provide for my family and forced to search desperately for alternative means of survival,” Mustapha read, pointing to a farmer who was present at Tuesday debate.
Sharing excerpts, from the man’s chilling testimonial, the Agriculture Minister noted that the man was among many farmers who had leased farmlands from the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary-Agriculture Development Authority (MMA-ADA) Scheme, but had their leases revoked without any notice or explanation.

SELF-SUFFICIENT
Today, according to Mustapha, agriculture is on better footing as Guyana is supporting its farmers and making significant strides toward food security and self-sufficiency, with rapid growth in both traditional and emerging agricultural sectors.
The government has focused on expanding rice production and diversifying into aquaculture. Brackish water production has surged by 700 per cent with production moving 100,000 kilogramme monthly to 120,000 kilogramme earning several rural economies $1.8 billion.
He noted too that the cultivation of corn has seen a growing increase with some 2,000 acres being cultivated last year, and this year an ambitious target of 25,000 acres has been set.

This will allow Guyana to meet its domestic needs twice a year. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to reduce reliance on imports and boost local production.
“Those are the visions we are talking about, we are not coming here with a prepared speech…those are the policies of the government, this is the food security we are talking about,” Mustapha said.
In addition, the government is investing in livestock and animal breeding programmes, including the introduction of embryo transplants and the distribution of breeding bulls to farmers. With a 24 per cent increase in livestock production, Guyana is working toward greater self-sufficiency.
The focus on involving young people and women in agriculture is reshaping the industry, with over 35 per cent of participants in programmes being youth and women.

He stressed that with continued investment in infrastructure and new technologies like marine cage culture, Guyana is building a more resilient and self-sufficient agricultural sector, ensuring food security for the future.