In their first regional socioeconomic project under the Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI), the Stabroek Block co-venturers have targeted the livestock industry in the Rupununi area with a US$120 million (US$608,000) grant.
The ‘EggSandwich Project’ seeks to reduce the livestock import bill by building the capacity of poultry rearers of Region Nine. The implementing partner of the EggSandwich Project, the Consultancy Group, will be working with the Rupununi Livestock Producers Association (RLPA) to ramp up hinterland production.
Explaining the need for such an endeavour, TCG’s Lead Consultant, Timothy McIntosh noted that an estimated $300 million in poultry meat was imported from Brazil into the Rupununi in 2018. He said the project can have a positive impact by reducing imports and providing a fresh and healthy alternative.
“Our job is really to take them at a place where they’re able to take the really fantastic work that they’ve been doing in the Rupununi outwards to the other hinterland regions. Our job is really as stewards to help them along, get them to where they need to be,” McIntosh said.
The TCG Consultant signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 22 with representatives of GGI, who are excited to see the extent to which this project enhances consumer access to high quality local poultry products and makes rearers economically independent.
These representatives included President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, as well as CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited’s (CPGL) Regional Manager Anand Gohil and its Project Controls Manager Huang Zhao.
In a comment, Routledge stressed how important it is to ExxonMobil Guyana for Guyanese countrywide to benefit from the petroleum sector, not only from revenues from oil imports but also through projects like GGI.
“It is exciting. It is where we implement the GGI. A lot of it so far, we’ve been getting traction with the educational part of it, whether it’s TVET, the University of Guyana … this is the first significant project which is getting to the sustainable economy part. Education, of course, builds that foundation but this is helping more practically.” Routledge said.
The Stabroek Block co-venturers – ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC – launched GGI in February 2021 – a US$100 million programme to fund capacity-building projects in-keeping with Guyana’s sustainable development objectives, over the course of a decade.
