President Ali empowers 27 athletes with housing, agriculture opportunity

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Saturday, presented 27 young sportsmen from Georgetown with a dual-faceted initiative geared at improving both housing and agricultural opportunities.

The initiative encourages the athletes to participate in a modern agricultural venture, specifically through the development of a tunnel house designed for poultry farming.

This venture will involve the group collectively investing in a cutting-edge facility.

Addressing the young men, the President underscored the importance of nurturing youth potential through targeted coaching and innovative projects.

“One of the big things that I believe in is young people must deploy their youth optimally and to deploy your youth optimally you have to get coaching. Coaching to ensure you make the right decisions, coaching to ensure you continue to enjoy life but you prioritise the enjoyment,” President Ali stated.

The President outlined the financial structure of the initiative, explaining that each participant would contribute approximately $300,000, which would go towards purchasing a $50 million tunnel house.

This facility is equipped to house around 45,000 chickens and is expected to generate an annual net revenue between $20 to $25 million.

To support this endeavor, the president noted that the bank has introduced a special window for agriculture loans with a favourable interest rate of 4.5 percent, accompanied by a tax exemption on interest.

Added to this, the Ministry of Agriculture will provide training to the participants on managing the tunnel house, ensuring that this new responsibility integrates seamlessly with their existing commitments.

In addition to the agricultural initiative, President Ali addressed housing needs by assuring the athletes that they would receive allocations for their professional homes, with an expedited bank process.

He highlighted that the capital investment is expected to be repaid within two years, supported by the bank’s loan, underscoring the administration’s broader goal of fostering prosperity and economic development.

“I want to break any barrier I want to reduce the bureaucracy with what we want to achieve and… What I want you guys to achieve is greatness for yourself and your families. Once you achieve greatness for yourself and families you can achieve greatness for the country,” President Ali emphasised.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha highlighted the significant shift in how young people perceive agriculture.

“You all (young people) never had an interest in agriculture, and today we are seeing thousands of young people in agriculture because young people have a different perception,” Minister Mustapha said.

He further praised President Ali’s revolutionary leadership in advancing food security in the Caribbean, with Guyana serving as a regional model.

Similarly, Selwyn Robertson a beneficiary, expressed his gratitude for the President’s swift intervention.

“I think the initiative he came up with in such a short space of time and give you an entrepreneurial place I think it is good.”,” he stated.

Lionel Holder echoed similar sentiments, saying, “I am so happy about it, fortunately being able to go into housing today and get something done in terms of my land. I am very happy about it, the President is doing a phenomenal job.”

Ronaldo Griffith praised the President’s actions, remarking, “the President’s actions in this short space of time, I think it is a tremendous effort. It is ground breaking really that we as youths could engage with our head of state so easily…and not only that we are able to leave with working developments in a matter of hours.”

This initiative represents the first phase of a broader plan, with intentions to extend similar opportunities to young people from various regions, including the East Coast, East Bank, West Coast, West Bank, and women.

Approximately 36 sports grounds across the country are in the final stages of development, aiming to enhance youth engagement and development in the sports sector.