New MMA-ADA Board urged to open new lands

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has officially installed the Board of Directors of the Mahaica- Mahaicony-Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) Scheme.

With the installation of the new Board of Directors, persons in the scheme will now be able to have their land lease and use issues resolved at the Board level.
During a brief meeting with the new Board, Mustapha told the new members that with the new investments coming on board for agriculture, they must work aggressively to guide Government with formulating policies to develop the scheme.

“MMA is the largest and one of the most important agriculture schemes in our country. With the experience of the persons on this Board, I think that we can move MMA from where it is now to greater heights, but we have to work together. The renewed interest we’ve seen in agriculture over the last three months is a result of our proactiveness. We’ve been reaching with farmers and the various stakeholders in an effort to get an idea of some of the issues they were faced with, as well as promote what Government has in store for them,” the minister is quoted as saying in a release from the ministry.
He added: “A number of persons, both locally and overseas, have expressed interest in the sector. It is now up to us to ensure we prepare the necessary infrastructure and put the necessary policies in place to facilitate these investments.”

Mustapha said he recently made a presentation to the Dubai delegation which recently visited Guyana on the improvement and increase of rice production.
Newly appointed Chairman of the Board, Dr Bob Andy Ramnauth, has urged the new members to take their role seriously and to work as a collective to resolve the issues in the scheme.
“You are not here by chance. Your experience and expertise have afforded you the opportunity to be here. We all bring to this table a wealth of knowledge. If you look around this table you see knowledge, wisdom, youth, vigour and vitality, and that is what we need to move this Scheme forward. We are here to perform a task. We should be able to help farmers and change the lives of these farmers. Over the past couple of years, we would have seen the deterioration of agriculture in our country, therefore, as members of this Board, we have a task to reverse that,” Dr. Ramnauth is quoted as saying.
Two weeks after taking office, Government approved $90 million to carry out much needed infrastructural works in the MMA/ADA Scheme.

The other members of the newly elected Board of Directors are Vickchand Ramphal; Dr. Dwight Waldron; Lionel Wordsworth; Andrew Bishop; Aditya Persaud; Madanlall Ramraj, Moses Rampal; Dawchan Nagasar and Curbette Victorine (General Manager/Ex-Officio).