The third day of debates on the 2024 budget, opened with Opposition Member of Parliament, Vinceroy Jordon going head-to-head with Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha over the management of the official’s portfolio.
Jordon, who was first on the floor, lamented that the 2024 budget has nothing to help the ordinary man face the rising costs for cash crops at the market. Referencing the prices for certain food items last year, Jordon challenged Mustapha to say where was the relief for citizens when “pumpkin was $1000 a slice, plantain $260 a pound, beef $800 and $1000 a pound… and celery was $1000 a bundle.” Jordon reasoned that the steep price of these local crops is a clear indication of the failure of the government’s agriculture programme.
Turning his attention to sugar, Jordon reminded that the policy of the APNU+AFC regime was to cease the wastage of tax dollars in a “dying sector” and ensure it was resized accordingly. “We cannot run form the fact that GuySuCo (the Guyana Sugar Corporation) is failing under the PPP/C. Even in 2024 , sugar is on its dying bed,” said Jordon. He expressed further disgust that the government pumped billions more into GuySuCo with little to show.
“Just imagine, GuySuCo got $4B in support annually from us and for that money it produced 100,000 metric tonnes annually. Under the PPP, the sector got over $30B in just under 3 years and it is producing an average of 50,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually. This is 50 percent less than what we did and I challenge Mustapha to admit that GuySuCo was better off under us,” Jordan said.
Minister Mustapha not only accepted the challenge, but schooled the young parliamentarian on the facts regarding the sugar sector. In his presentation, the Agriculture Minister reminded that the very APNU+AFC had summoned a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the sector. The CoI report that followed categorically stated that the sugar industry remains important to Guyana and its people and must therefore have an opportunity to survive. Mustapha exposed that the APNU+AFC not only ignored this advice but carried out a callous and calculated plot to destroy the industry and the livelihoods of those involved.
Using hardcore facts, Mustapha said, “In 2014, our last year in office (before APNU+AFC took over) sugar grew by 16 percent. We made 216,357 tonnes. In 2015 onward, sugar started to decline… from 2016, 2017, 2018 , and 2019, sugar declined by 21 percent , 25 percent, 24 percent, and 12 percent respectively. So you can see who caused the sector’s decline.”
In stark contrast, Mustapha said the government’s strategic investments in the sector allowed sugar to grow by 28 percent last year. He said it is poised for a further increase of 66 percent in 2024. “Those are the facts,” the politician said to his opposition counterpart.
As for Jordon’s claim that the government did nothing to ease the cost of living burden last year, Mustapha rejected this as “barefaced misinformation.” For the benefit of the opposition member who probably suffered from a moment of selective amnesia, Mustapha reminded that $5B was distributed to public servants via a 6.5 percent one off increase while other groups benefitted from other forms of assistance.
With the 2024 budget placing a substantial allocation of $97.6B for agriculture, Minister Mustapha said all of the subsectors under his purview are expected to see transformational growth, while remaining key to the government’s vision for a diversified and resilient economy.
