Livestock Authority Board of Directors in place
– tasked with guiding policy development to advance sector
-urged to continue surveillance of meat products on the market
The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) is the latest agency under the Ministry of Agriculture to have its Board of Directors in place.
Yesterday, during its introductory meeting, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha urged the new members to work as a collective to develop and make recommendations that will guide Government’s policies to enhance the sector.
“In selecting this Board, a lot of thought went into it because we were looking for people who can serve and enhance the livestock sector. With the representation here, I’m confident that you all possess the necessary skillset to move GLDA forward. As Minister of Agriculture, I would like to see this Board play a significant role in the growth of our livestock industry. We have a lot of investors eyeing Guyana now. As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I made a presentation on poultry and goat production to a group of investors from Dubai and they showed great interest in those areas,” Minister Mustapha said.
Minister Mustapha also encouraged the Board to promote the services of the Authority to farmers across the country.
“Over the last few months we’ve seen a renewed interest in our agriculture sector, more so, in the livestock sector. That interest came about because of two things; our strategies in terms of introducing friendly policies to our farmers and the incentives we are giving to farmers and persons interested in investing in the poultry sector. We’ve also been promoting the works of the GLDA during our outreaches and community engagements. I hope that the Board can continue on this path to ensure we develop the industry and create wealth for our farmers,” Minister Mustapha said.
Newly elected Chairman of the Board, Madanlall Ramraj, committed to having the Board build on the successes achieved so far.
“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Authority and, as a Board, we will continue to build on the successes achieved so far. There are four broad policies that the Board should concentrate on. These include policy formulation, strategic implementation, supervision of executive management and the accountability to Government. Minister I want to assure you, that as Chairman and with the support of my colleagues, we’ll ensure that those policies are implemented and enhanced,” Mr. Ramraj said.
Recently, GLDA collaborated with the Ministry of Health to conduct a number of exercises that resulted in the seizures of large quantities of poultry and other processed meats from a number of entities in Georgetown. These meats were found to be either smuggled or not fit for human consumption.
Minister Mustapha, while commending GLDA for the successes of those activities, encouraged the Board to ensure it continues to build on its surveillance operations to ensure only products classified as fit for human consumption is present on the market.
“We’ve seen over the past few weeks; a number of illegal meats being seized by the GLDA. Through those activities we can see that as an entity, we’ve been working to ensure we protect our market from having meats that can pose a threat to the health and wellbeing of our citizens if consumed. I am encouraging the GLDA to continue those types of surveillance and gather the necessary information to ensure our markets remain secure,” Minister Mustapha said.
The new members of the GLDA Board of Directors include Madanlall Ramraj (Chairman), Jennifer Chapman, George Jervis, Javed Mustapha, Erick Anderson, Ramsay Ali, Hakeem Mohamed, Debra Gopaul, Dr. Nardeo Bassoodeo, Wilmot Garnett, Partick DeGroot, Courtley Crichlow, Shameer Mohamed, Mahendranauth Ramjit and Dr. Grayson Halley (ex officio).