Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha took the floor of the National Assembly this morning and painted a picture that suggests the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is the saviour of Guyana’s rice industry. He essentially told the House that the industry made a 180° turn to productivity under the PPP/C, as compared to the state of affairs under the APNU+AFC government during 2015-2020.
Mustapha made these utterances as he stood to defend Budget 2025.
The minister was quick to remind the House that while APNU+AFC was in office, rice farmers were told, “rice is private business.” He said that stance captures the way in which the industry was handled. The official said that the industry was left to fend for itself and many farmers and millers were driven out of business, owing to government’s callous management.
To drive home his point, Mustapha told the House, “We had a very lucrative market in Panama that was negotiated by the PPP/C in 2011, they lost the market and a number of farmers were owed over $1.5 billion.”
He said that the PPP/C worked tirelessly to recover the sum and the farmers and millers were finally given their monies a few months ago.
Additionally, Mustapha pointed out, “When the PPP left government the Petrocaribe deal with Venezuela was still functional, they (APNU+AFC) lost it and about 20 farmers were owed.” The minister said that only last month, the farmers were paid their collective $438M.
Mustapha told the House that acts like those mentioned, along with heavy support for the ministry, restored confidence and the industry is thriving once again.
He noted that for the first time in the history of rice cultivation in Guyana, production surpassed 700,000 tonnes, peaking at 725,000. “That is our legacy.”
The minister projected that this year will also be record-breaking as the new target is 804,000 tonnes as the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary scheme alone is cultivating 101,000 acres of rice.
