$566M to complete phase two of Regional Food Hub
Kaieteur News – The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office has cleared a $566,486,000 contract to complete phase two of the Regional Food Hub.
As reported previously, the construction of the Regional Food Hub is being undertaken by Ministry of Agriculture through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). According to information provided on its website, NPTAB has awarded the $566 million contract to Navin & Sons Construction and this is for the construction of foundation and external works for the Food Hub which will be located along the Linden – Soesdyke Highway.
During a presentation in a meeting with the President of the Islamic Development Bank Dr. Mohammed Sulaiman last year, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha informed that the land for the facility has already been identified on the Soesdyke /Linden Highway and the complex will cost some US$14M. Already Phase One of the project which began last year cost some $187 million.
Mustapha was also quoted in a Department of Public Information article in September last year saying: “We want this Guyana here to be the food hub. The primary production hub of the Caribbean so that we could supply the Caribbean. What we have, our colleagues in the Caribbean don’t have. We have arable flat land and abundant fresh water. Now with the investment coming on board, we can modernise the infrastructure, and start ramping up of the productions.”
Minister Mustapha had underscored that Guyana is looking to play a lead role in reducing the Caribbean’s food import bill by 2025. He noted that Guyana will work with the State of Roraima in Brazil to form a partnership in the development of the Hub.
It was reported in the media also that the Food Hub will facilitate the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products, mainly obtained from the state of Roraima in Brazil. This publication understands that when completed the hub will provide a number of services which include cleaning, sorting, packaging, repackaging, labelling, and storing products in temperature-controlled units to ensure quality and safety.
