APNU accuses Govt. of creating adversity in Agri sector

Sep 02, 2011 News

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member Dr. Vernon Mc Pherson says that a recent World Bank Report has confirmed that the agricultural production in Guyana has been experiencing severe difficulties.
At the time, Dr. Mc Pherson was addressing members of the media at the Party’s weekly media briefing yesterday at Congress Place, Sophia.
He said that over the past 19 years, the Guyana Government has been given generous assistance, by organizations like the FAO, IDB, IFAD, ICCA, IMF and the World Bank, to help in the improvement of agricultural production and position the country to realize its recognized agricultural potential.
However, he noted, evidence suggests that despite spending billions of dollars, agricultural output could be declining by as much as 5 percent per year.
“This disturbing trend in agricultural output was observed since 2008 and continues to the present time. In the context of the mandates of these organizations and the amounts of money they have made available, these organizations periodically undertake assessments of the performance of the recipient country to determine if their assistance is achieving the goals set for the country.”
Mc Pherson pointed out that one glaring example of this problem is the dilemma of the sugar industry.
“Guyanese are increasingly becoming familiar with the crisis facing this vital industry…we have pointed out that the GuySuCo Board of Directors has in a few short years succeeded in virtually destroying an industry which has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of this country.”
He further pointed to the fact that at one time, sugar was the mainstay of the Guyana economy and output was as high as 342,000 tons per year, but like so many other sectors of the economy, the sugar industry was on the rise at the time the PNC handed the country over to the PPP/C in 1992.
“The Jagdeo PPP/C told Guyanese that the problems which developed in the sugar industry, subsequent to 1992, would be fixed once the Skeldon Sugar Factory was in operation…this factory, which cost in excess of US$200M, was opened for business since 2009; it has not worked according to projections and the GuySuCo Board has no idea of how to objectively analyze the situation and formulate remedial action”.
“We, therefore, repeat our call for the early appointment of a Commission of Inquiry to fully investigate the state of affairs in the sugar industry and to formulate remedial actions that would be more beneficial than having the PPP/C continue their visionless tampering with the sugar industry.”
It was also highlighted that out of 21 major agricultural commodities, including fisheries, the production in 2010 was below that of 2000 in 15 of the target commodities.
“To put it simply: when our farmers go to their farms, do their hard work, and eventually reap their crops, collectively they bring home 72 percent less produce than they did in 2000. The situation is even more dismal for at least another 20 percent of our farmers, to the point where their production levels are so low that the Bank of Guyana sees no point in reporting what they produced. That is how dire our circumstances are in agriculture and if you think that we have recovered from the floods of 2005 and 2006, you now know that we have not even come close.
“The production crisis persists in 2011.This is illustrated by the following examples taken from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Commodity Market Update. Plantain production is already down 40 percent compared to 2010. Bora is already down 48 percent. Pumpkin is down 59 percent. Hot pepper is down 61 percent. Watermelon is down 64 percent. Cucumber is down 76 percent. Boulanger is already down 77 percent. These production declines are matched by rising prices in the markets and hunger for many desperately poor families.
Amid all this deprivation, the PPP/C Administration shamelessly continues spouting unsubstantiated numbers about agricultural output and makes itself look comical when talking about how it can feed the Caribbean. Remember the Jagdeo Initiative of 2002? That has not gotten off the ground as yet!”
“APNU is aware of the challenges facing the agriculture sector and understands that our farmers need support from the start, during the crop/growing cycle, during harvesting and in marketing. We are aware that support services are not adequate or robust enough to meet the needs of our farmers,” Dr. Mc Pherson concluded.

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APNU accuses Govt. of creating adversity in Agri sector

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