Guyana keen to tap India for providing cheap, efficient transportation in Caricom: Guyanese Prez

New Delhi/Georgetown (Guyana), Apr 24 (FN Representative) Guyana is keen to explore the role India can play in providing cheap and efficient transportation in the Caricom region, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali conveyed to visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during the commissioning of India -designed and built MV Ma Alisha, a 297-seater passenger and cargo vessel. “We are going to look at Caricom to work with India on finding the solution for regional shipping needs because shipping is an important part of what we need to move Caricom forward,” President Ali said at the commissioning ceremony for MV Ma Lisha at the Demerara Sugar Terminal on Sunday. The Guyanese President said he has already informed EAM S Jaishankar who participated in the ribbon-cutting and tour of the vessel, that Guyana wanted to explore the role India could play in providing cheap and efficient transportation.

“As a region, we took a decision that together we must solve the shipping problem and I see India as an important partner in resolving this,” he said, a report quoted him as saying. The Caricom (Caribbean Community) is aiming to reduce its more than US$5 billion food import bill by 25 percent by 2025. The MV Ma Alisha, known as the North West District ferry, is expected to ship agricultural produce from northwestern Guyana to Trinidad. The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is funding a study to explore options for establishing a Maritime Cargo Service between Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago primarily for the movement of agricultural products. President Ali announced that MV Ma Lisha, which is owned and operated by the Ministry of Public Works’ Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) would be used to ship ginger, turmeric, eddoes, cassava and cage-cultured fish from Region One (Barima-Waini) to Trinidad which is 11 hours away. He said MV Ma Lisha could transport turmeric to the coastland for processing and export to the United Kingdom (UK) aboard British Airways which recently began scheduled flights on the UK-St Lucia-Guyana route. He also said the crab meat, which could be transported in the ship’s freezer could be sold on the coastland as a high-value product. The MV Ma Lisha was built in India by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd at a cost of US$12.7 million through a line of credit by New Delhi.

EAM Jaishankar, in his remarks at the commissioning, said the ferry should be seen in the context of the long-standing development partnership between India and Guyana. “Our cooperation is human-centric, it reflects the priorities of the people and the Government of Guyana. Over the years our two countries have collaborated in several areas of interest, which directly impact the lives of the people….I want to underline today, that we remain committed to continuing to support Guyana’s developmental goals and to work with this country, on projects of its interest and priorities.” On the India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, EAM said that so far 640 Guyanese nationals have benefited from the programmes which are designed to enhance skills and capacity building. “We are indeed happy to see ITEC alumni occupy high positions in Guyana including Mr. President, you personally. I understand that officials from Guyana went for specialised training to India for operating this new Ferry.” “…as we see Guyana’s journey on its development path, becoming faster, becoming more complex; we know that there would be demands for specialized and custom-made training courses and capacity building programmes. It would be India’s privilege to partner Guyana on our premier training institutions, universities and learning institutions. We would also be happy to work with Guyana to build a modern ecosystem of institutes for training and capacity building, to meet its growing requirements,” he said.