$50 billion to transform dams into all-weather roads

The government is creating its five-year strategy to transform agriculture and food production, with Region Three positioned as a crucial driver in this push for a productive farming sector.

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali continued his engagement on Sunday with important stakeholders, including farmers and fisherfolk at the National Track and Field Facility in Leonora, Region Three.

The head of state explained that the nation’s food strategy cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all model.

Instead, the president said, it must be grounded in each region’s unique competitive advantages, through targeted investments by the government.

For example, despite distributing over 1,000 agricultural leases in Region Three over the last four years, farmers continue to face three main issues: lack of productive lands, underutilised existing lands and high production costs due to lack of access.

In addressing this issue, the government is conducting an audit of all the farm-to-market access dams in Region Three and will put aside massive resources to transform these dams.

“We are going to set aside $50 billion [in the initial phase] to [transform] all of those farms to market access dams – into all weather, hard surface roads,” President Ali announced.

By creating new access roads and infrastructure investments, approximately 75,000 acres of land will be unlocked, meaning tens of thousands of acres will be brought into productive use quickly.

“But access is not all that you need,” the president said. “You will have access but the capital investment to develop those lands will be incredibly high. So, the government will form different agriculture districts with you.”

These agricultural districts will be formed in the region, each supported with government-assigned machinery to ease capital development costs for farmers.

Two major road projects from Schoonard to Parika and the opening up of the Del Conte-Sand Hills Road link—will unlock additional hundreds of thousands of acres for agriculture, sand mining, and tourism.

The Del Conte Road will provide easier access for places like Bonasika, Aliki and Lanabali, among others and creating accessibility for thousands of farmers along this area.

“If we don’t have this, we don’t have any new lands…. that is what we are about, talking to you about a clearly defined vision [and] understanding what investments are needed to ensure that vision is realised,” the head of state underscored.

Meanwhile, national drainage infrastructure will continue to receive major investment, with systems like the Hope Canal earmarked for the region to help mitigate flooding.

This project aims to improve the drainage and irrigation systems in the region, specifically at B-line in Canals Polder. The design for this canal has been completed and is currently at the procurement stage.

The president over the last three days have held extensive discussions with farmers in Regions Two, Five and Six to listen and solicit ideas that will form the government’s five-year strategy for Guyana’s farming industry (Republished from the Department of Public Information)