Haitian Ministers tour Haitian Rice Company in Region Five
A new agreement that is at present being drafted will see Haitian students being trained at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), according to Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
During a tour of Saj Rice Mill in Region Five in the company of the Haitian Minister of Commerce, Industry Mr. Wilson La Leau and the Minister of Agriculture Jacques Thomas, Minister Ramsammy disclosed that the two countries will be signing another Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is currently being drafted for among others, Haitian students to be schooled at the GSA.
The Saj Rice Mill in Region Five
According to Minister Ramsammy the MOU will also provide collaboration in the areas of fruits and vegetable production, among other areas. The Minister explained that, “Guyana can offer a great deal to Haiti, we are not where we used to be eight years ago where we depended on other people for help, we are now in a position where we can help, in this context we are not looking at Haiti as just a market.”
Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy and Haitian
Minister of Commerce, Industry Mr. Wilson La Leau and
Minister of Agriculture Jacques Thomas with team on
tour of the Saj Rice Mill
“Eleven million people represent a big market for Guyana, whether it is rice, sugar, fish or poultry, but our interest in Haiti goes beyond Haiti as a big market, we see Haiti as a sister a partner, where we can work together,” he stated.
Minister Ramsammy, while referring to the recently signed MOU to enhance Guyana’s traceability capacity, revealed the new MOU in the works. “We signed a MOU because Haiti has developed a traceability system that we want to piggy back on so we can build our own traceability system. Without it we cannot continue to export into the United States, Canada into Europe.”
“We are also going to be working on fruits and vegetables, to see how we could support Haiti in building some of that and at the same time Haiti has an excellent reputation in selling coffee and mangoes in Europe and North America and that is an area we can learn from them,” Minister Ramsammy said.
A staff of the Saj Rice Mill explaining the grading process
to the team
The Agriculture Minister explained that motivation behind the Haitian Ministers tour of the rice facility. He said that whilst he was in Haiti recently, he enlightened them to the fact that the Haitian Saj-Steven Angele Jeff Khauly has been operating a mill in Guyana since 2006 under a 10-year lease.
Minister Ramsammy said that Saj has done a good job in Guyana and that the hope is that they will help to get rice into Haiti and other places. He said that the Rice Group has a great relationship with the local rice farmers and has invested significantly in modernising the leased mill.
Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy and the Haitian
Minister of Commerce, and Industry Mr. Wilson La Leau and
the Minister of Agriculture Jacques Thomas with the GRDB
executives and some of the staff of the Saj Rice Mill
The facility has been upgraded with new equipment and a new generator system, among others. The company has indicated its interest in extending its lease to 20 years, and it is for all these reasons that the ministry is considering giving the company the extension, Minister Ramsammy said.
The two Haitian Ministers were in agreement of the importance of Haiti to develop partnership with other Caricom countries. The Agriculture Minister Thomas explained that agriculture is only one of the many areas in which the country is seeking to strengthen its partnership with Guyana and other Caricom countries toward the development of Haiti.
