Teshawna Lall has been appointed as the new General Manager of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).
This is according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture on Monday which provided no further information on the appointment.
The statement said that Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha met with recently appointed members of the Board of Directors for the GMC and the Hope Coconut Indus-tries Limited in the Ministry’s main boardroom and stressed the need for innovative policies at the GMC.
“This is a very important organization in the Ministry of Agriculture. As Minister, I would like to see the agency embark on new and innovative ways to market Guyana’s products and dealing with our farmers’ produce. As the persons involved in making critical decisions relating to this agency, we have to ensure that we have the trust of the farmers. We also have to ensure we make the sector attractive. I want to see a revamping of the policies of the New GMC,” Mustapha said.
He added: “As challenging as it may be, farmers are looking forward to the Ministry of Agriculture to assist them with finding markets for their produce. I think that, over the years, many farmers would have produced significantly, but due to the decline in markets and prices for their produce, many farmers would’ve downscaled or come out of agriculture all together. We are now tasked with encouraging them to get back into the fields and show that markets are and will be available”.
According to the statement, David Fernandes, who was appointed as Chairman of the Board said: “We need to regain trust in the farmers in order to improve those relationships. We will also be working to change some of the policies regarding the way GMC operates. We’ll be addressing value chain and a number of other areas. Inter-agency sales are also welcomed. I know it’s not something necessarily done but I’m happy about that”.
While addressing the newly appointed Hope Coconut Industries Limit-ed Board of Directors, Mustapha said members are expected to develop the entire estate, adding that both coconuts and other cash crops are cultivated there.
“Coconut is a very important crop in our country. I recognize that the coconut industry has a lot of potential to bring in much more foreign revenue. In this year’s budget, Government allocated funds to develop two new coconut nurseries, one in Kairuni and one in Charity. We will continue to expand and develop the nurseries across the country. We also have different species of coconuts that we are considering. You will have to give the guidance, along with NAREI (National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute), for the development of the coconut industry. The Hope Estate too has to be developed”, Mustapha said.
The GMC Board of Directors comprises David Fernandes (Chairman), Brian Sears, Gerald Gouveia Jr., Rajeundra Singh, Syied Ibrahim, Venkat Narasan, George Jervis, Natasha Beerjit-Deonarine, Aditya Persaud, Faizal Jafferally, Jaideo Sookhoo, Yvonne Pearson and Teshawna Lall (GM/ex-officio member).
The members of the Hope Coconut Industries Limited board are Pandit Rabindranath Persaud (Chairman), Teshawna Lall, Javed Shadick, Rickford Sue, Dr. Oudho Homenauth, Bissesar Persaud, George Jervis, Dhanpaul Sukhdeo, Gordon Thomas, Bissesar Chintamanie and Rickie Roopchand (GM/ex officio member).
