THE PPP MUST LEARN TO TELL THE TRUTH The People’s National Congress Reform is proud of its record on agriculture and extremely proud of the Party’s contribution to the total development of the rice industry in Guyana. Under the PNC Government, the Guyana School of Agriculture experimented with and developed many new varieties of paddy (rice), like the Blue Belle and Star Bonnet which produced higher yields per acre. It was the PNC national development plan of 1972 crafted by Dr. Kenneth King, Minister of Economic Development that promoted national self-reliance and challenged the nation to grow more food. It was under the PNC that the Black Bush Polder extension and the Tapakuma drainage and irrigation schemes were extended and completed, and the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary drainage and irrigation scheme developed bringing thousands of new acres under agricultural production. It was under the PNC that the Institute of Science and Technology headed by Dr. Neville Trotz, spearheaded the development of solar driers, experiments with alternative sources of energy like Bagasse from agro-waste, Kaolin for the manufacture of chalk, palm oil and organic dyes. The Guyana School of Agriculture under the PNC experimented with various varieties of paddy, sugar cane, mung, soy and Holstein cattle were imported to be integrated into the beef industry. The Guyana Co-operative Agricultural, Industrial and Development Bank (Gaibank) opened in 1972 to provide financial and technical support to farmers. Major infrastructure investments were also made by the PNC Government that still supports the agricultural sector today. To make it easy for farmer to get their produce to markets in the cities, a network of coastal roads were built by the PNC from the Corentyne to Essequibo. The Demerara and Canje rivers were bridged, the Linden Soesdyke Highway was built and the river was bridged linking the communities of Linden and Wismar, making it easy for farmers in the riverain areas to increase their acreage, cultivate new products like pine apple and peppers along the highway, and get them easily to market. This is but a miniscule snapshot of the PNC’s strong record in agriculture. The PPP/C’s General Secretary, Mr. Clement Rohee remarks at his party’s press conference yesterday (March 10th); that due to the harsh and uncaring policies and attitudes of the PNC thousands of acres of arable lands were forced out of cultivation; and that rice and those involved in its production were generally de-emphasized is but a figment of Mr. Rohee’s imagination. The truth is that after the PNC came to office in 1964 the People’s Progressive Party launched a campaign to destabilize the agriculture sector. The PPP went around the country discouraging rice farmers and others engaged in agriculture from producing rice and other products. Rice farmers in particular were told not to plant their crops and support the PNC. This is the truth and the PPP must learn to tell the truth even when it is inconvenient.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:35:34 +0000
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