New road in the MMA will open access to new rice lands

The government is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to construct six farm to market roads throughout the country.

These roads are expected to provide farmers with unhindered access between their farm lands, markets and other locations to ensure their produce reach consumers as well as for export.

Three of these roads are slated to be built in Region Five according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.

The Minister was at the time turning the sod for the construction of a farm to market road within the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary MMA phase one Scheme in West Coast of Berbice

The asphaltic concrete road carries a price tag of some $327M. R. Jagroop Construction Services is expected to construct the 5km all- weather road based on the specification outlined by the Ministry of Agriculture which includes asphalt at six meters wide along with 50mm thickness.

These roads are one of the investments the government have prioritized, “When we develop our agriculture sector, we will create jobs, we will create wealth but more importantly we will have food security in our country that is why as a government we believe in investment in infrastructures are required to make the agriculture sector viable and sustainable,” Minister Mutapha said.

The Minister advised the contractor to engage the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority. That entity will be monitoring the road works to ensure that government gets value for money the minister said, “we must all time have value for money, we must not do a road today and then in a year or two it break up, we must ensure that when we do a road here the next year we must be going to a next community rather than to come here to repair this one so we must have the work done to the specification,” the minister posited.

When completed, more than 30,000 acres of new lands for rice cultivation is expected to be opened in the MMA area.