Agri. ministry looking to cultivate coconuts along major river banks

Productionof coconuts in Guyana is expected to double as the government through the Ministry of Agriculture is looking to cultivate this crop along the banks of major rivers across Guyana.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha made the disclosure on April 12, 2023 during a public engagement with residents of Mocha/ Arcadia on the East Bank of Demerara. “That will help us to also stop erosion of those areas but at the same time, those lands will be productive. So, we have a specialist coming into the country shortly to help us in the coconut industry,” Minister Mustapha disclosed.

This initiative aligns with the government’s vision of developing this lucrative industry as the agriculture minister said this crop has a lot of potential. Minister Mustapha informed residents that since August 2, 2020, 12 coconut nurseries have been constructed to date. This has decentralised the availability of seed nuts from Hope Industries Limited (Hope Estate) to other parts of the country. “That means people from the East Bank or people from West Coast or Berbice don’t have to come to Hope Coconut Estate or NAREI to buy these plants. We have it across this country now,” he stated.

In addition, all farmers involved in this industry will be receiving the new Brazilian Green Dwarf Coconut variety, which is intended to further boost the local coconut industry,

The Brazilian Green Dwarf variety is best known for its high-yielding properties, as well as its high tolerance to attacks from common pests and diseases that usually affect other varieties of coconut.

Its most outstanding characteristic, however, is its ability to produce a higher volume of water than other varieties commonly grown in Guyana. This variety is also said to produce water that has a high sucrose level, making it sweeter than others.

Some 1,000 seed nuts arrived in Guyana last year and additional seed nuts are expected to arrive.

“The Brazilian Green Dwarf Coconut has potential … so, we are looking to build on that and all farmers eventually, who are producing coconuts or who are planting coconuts will receive that variety from us because we want to develop it,” the agriculture minister posited.

Guyana is leading the way in agriculture as CARICOM aims to lessen the almost $5 billion food import bill by 25 per cent by the year 2025.

48 Lima Sands residents receive long-awaited land titles

first, an assessment will be conducted. “What we are doing now, we are looking at a survey to know what type of planting materials are needed and where. We are going to reorganise all the nurseries in the country,” he stated. The community of Mocha has benefitted from several agricultural interventions and currently some 100 acres of land is being developed for agriculture purposes among other initiatives.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag urged residents to take advantage of the education opportunities being afforded through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL).

Further, several housing and water related matters were also addressed by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal.

Follow up visits will be conducted in the community, to ensure the commitments are fulfilled.

The east bank community would have benefitted from several outreaches with government.

Aftermore than two decades of anticipation, 48 residents of Lima Sands on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two, were finally granted their Certificates of Title, securing their rightful ownership of the lands they occupy.

The residents were presented with their documents during a recent outreach in the State House compound at Anna Regina.

The outreach was led by Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues and Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Sherwyn Greaves.

The distribution of land titles in Lima Sands is the delivery of a promise made by Minister Rodrigues when she visited the region just over a year ago. During her address, the minister clarified that the process began in April of last year, but the agency encountered a few bottlenecks that impeded progress. The situation was further compounded by squatting. “It made it difficult to have a conclusive plan, but we persevered and we stayed faithful to our commitment and today the first set of titles, 48 titles will be handed out,” she stated.

Region Two has benefitted from tremendous investments in the housing sector over the past three years. Minister Rodrigues announced that thus far, some $3.5 billion has been invested in the region in infrastructure.

“So we are transforming communities across the country and the Ministry of Housing is leading an effort in ensuring that there’s transformation in the infrastructure, but more importantly, where there’s transformation in people’s lives,” she underscored.

The processing of titles will now continue at the Regional Office, and over 600 residents will be able to receive their Certificates of Title upon completion of verification.

The areas for which titles can now be processed include Henrietta, Coffee Grove, Richmond, La Belle Alliance, Lima, Fear Not, Sparta, Windsor Castle, and Hampton Court.

Additionally, over 70 residents were able to uplift their Cement and Steel subsidy vouchers as the distribution process continued in the region. Other services were offered including signing up for house lots and Agreements of Sale for Onderneeming Phase One, Two and Three and Lima Sands.

New Fire Service headquarters to be commissioned by mid-June – Benn

The new state-of-the-art $614.5 million Guyana Fire Service (GFS) headquarters on Homestretch Avenue is slated to open by mid-June.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, provided the update in recent comments, where he said, “We were hoping to be able to open it by the end of this month, but I think it might run over to mid-June. There are some issues we have to finalise with respect to the construction and the occupancy. We are working at it.”

In March, Minister Benn made it clear that the authorities first need to identify any faults in the building during the defects liability period.

Once any defect is identified the contractor will have to resolve the issue.

Once this process is completed, the completion certificate will be signed and the final payment will be made.

Minister Benn said the engineers are currently tasked with inspecting the