[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Canjie Basin, Region 6 has been identified for commercial agriculture development by investors from Trinidad and Tobago according to Trinidad’s Food Production Minister, Devant Maharaj.
The Canjie Basin area was identified on Friday, November 22 following intense discussions with the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud and technical officers from Trinidad and Guyana, including the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Minister Maharaj on Thursday last, told reporters that the lands would be identified within two weeks, while Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy did not want to reveal the proposed areas.
However, iNews has learnt that following the identification of the land, a technical assessment of the area will be conducted to gather scientific and empirical data to determine soil type and other technical information which will be offered to investors.
This investment initiative resulted from the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago whereby 10,000 acres of land will be made available to investors/farmers of Trinidad and Tobago for agricultural development. The crops identified are corn, soya, cassava, legumes and fish and poultry rearing.
The high level Trinidad and Tobago team over the past few days also held discussions with other key players with the agriculture and private sector.
After the two countries had signed the MOU, the Famers Association in Trinidad had lashed out, stating that there are more than enough lands in their country to facilitate farmers.
When asked about this by iNews during the Thursday press conference, Minister Maharaj explained that to date, he is yet to receive any official documentation from the Famers’ Association explaining their objection.
“I have not received any single letter, line or paragraph from any organization of any concrete objection to this MOU. There are no lands available in Trinidad,” the Food Production Minister said.
He further explained that the non – existence of lands in the twin island republic has reached the stage where there is a current list of 20,000 people awaiting housing.
