The Mangrove Reserve Producers Cooperative Society’s Business Implementation Project was launched yesterday and Canadian High Commissioner David Devine handed over $4,000,000 to support it.
The launching, under the auspices of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), was held yesterday at the Mangrove Visitor Centre at Cove and John, East Coast Demerara.
According to a project note from the Canadian High Commission, the project is intended to equip members of the society with basic food processing equipment to enable mechanisation of some aspects of their production and to provide them with labelling, packaging and marketing support in order to successfully execute their business plan. “This will enable them to manage a fully-functional small–scale food production enterprise, generating profits from a sustainable business model with clear management structures and business procedures in place,” it added.
At the launch, Devine said that the Canadian government was pleased with the work of the Mangrove project and promised to provide continued support. “The Canadian Fund supports national and regional development because it contributes to development as a whole in the country.
The Canadian government is for economic growth and that is why we are donating four million dollars to propel this project,” he said, mentioning that he has noticed that the country is developing economically and women were responsible for part of the development. “That is why we need to stop ignoring the gender gap,” he added.
He also said that the CFLI also supports the project because it is a response to climate change, while adding that he was amazed that the local communities were ardently joining together to protect against the land.
Charlotte De Jesus, the President of the Society, said that the project had received a lot of financial assistance, especially from companies like Digicel and GuyOil. She said that Digicel had been the backbone behind their fight to protect the mangroves. She said that the main purpose of the project was to promote mangrove protection, in order to protect the people living on the coastland. De Jesus said that through the project many villages across the coast that were prone to flooding were protected from the destruction by high tides.
Meanwhile, Devine also said that he was saddened by the news of the Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy’s illness and hoped for his speedy recovery. “I must recognise a man that was supposed to be here,” he said. Ramsammy was hospitalised after falling ill on Tuesday.
