Questions for Parliament over proposed US$500m Malaysian investment

- Roopnaraine wants to know about environmental studies

Weeks after Stabroek News reported on a planned major investment by a Malaysian company questions have been raised about how the project was facilitated with key agencies seemingly being left out of the process and questions are soon to be asked in Parliament about it.

Shadow agriculture minister and APNU Member of Parliament, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, told Stabroek News it was astonishing that there has been no official response from the government on the Wee Boon Ping Group of Companies subsidiary, Bornion Guyana Incorporated’s

Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

(BGI) proposed US$500 million investment in agriculture and forestry.

He said various memoranda were being signed and the government was opening up the Canje Basin for development but that no environmental impact assessments (EIAs) were being conducted. He told Stabroek News that “EIA are necessities… It can ensure the water supplied to Berbice is going to be okay, you have to be sure that you are not going to compromise sugar estates, Black Bush (Polder)…”

Dr Roopnaraine stated that the opposition was “not at all happy that these major projects are being planned in the Canje and no EIA has been done to ascertain the viability of agriculture”. He continued that Guyana could not be offering up land without ensuring that the waterways which traverse the Canje Basin are protected.

He said the government was signing memoranda but without providing any further information even after the preliminary arrangements had been made. Dr Roopnaraine told Stabroek News that prior to works commencing it was the responsibility of the government to provide all necessary details. He noted that at this point the opposition was at a loss stating that he was made aware of BGI’s intentions through a Stabroek News article on January 12, 2014. Prior to the SN report there was no detailed information from the government on what the project entailed. This newspaper understands that even senior officials in the government had been unaware of the extent of the proposed project.

Dr Roopnaraine said that prior to the article he was not aware of the 10,000-acre investment to plant rubber, soya and oil palm. He said that “they keep granting these MOUs and very little is ever said about how they have been granted…” He added that the lack of information for BGI’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Guyanese government made it difficult to even know what to inquire about.

He revealed that he was preparing written questions for the Agriculture Minister in Parliament and would be requesting written answers on not only BGI’s investment, but also the proposed D Y Patil Group’s 65,000 hectares investment to be used for agricultural-related projects including dairy processing; rice milling and processing; fisheries and poultry; fruit and vegetables; and sugar cane production with ethanol and power. Questions have also been raised about how the Patil group’s application for land was processed.

The shadow agriculture minister stated that the opposition would be requesting in full detail the process by which the memoranda were signed. He said that “we need far more disclosure in the beginning stages,” pointing out that the various deals were being facilitated without the necessary agencies being included.

When Stabroek News reached out to the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) on the memoranda it was told that this was a question for the Ministry of Natural Resources. Minister Robert Persaud then directed Stabroek News to Go-Invest stating that all foreign investment would need to go through that office. This publication did inquire as to why the GFC was not approach-ed considering that the memoranda in some cases pertained to state forests.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Change shadow agriculture minister Moses Nagamootoo stated that since it was so early on and that little was known about BGI investment, the AFC would prefer to have the minister provide information voluntarily. He noted that the various developmental projects that were underway in the Canje Basin were steps in the right direction and that the AFC was not “anti-development” but did want to err on the side of caution prior to endorsing the memoranda with both BGI and the D Y Patil Group.

Stabroek News has been unable to reach Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy for further details on these projects despite numerous attempts.