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By Kiana Wilburg Considering its heavy dependency on energy, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Agriculture, Devant Maharaj says that his country is hoping to diversify its economy by investing in agriculture. Maharaj is hoping to accomplish this through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was signed earlier this year.Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy (left) and his Trinidadian counterpart,Jerome Bettis Steelers Jersey, Devant Maharaj, during the press briefing yesterday.The MOU is based on the Jagdeo initiative which says that Guyana will provide 10,000 acres of land to Trinidadian entrepreneurs who desire to invest in agricultural activities such as livestock rearing and aquaculture.Minister of Agriculture,Andre Tippett Patriots Jersey, Dr Leslie Ramsammy at a press briefing yesterday, reminded members of the media corps that before the MOU was signed, there were three visits; one was conducted by a technical team on further  assessment of  the lands for agricultural purposes  whilst the other two were led by Minister Maharaj.Since its signing, Dr. Ramsammy said that a team led by the permanent secretary from the Ministry of Agriculture in Guyana visited the Twin Island Republic and meetings were carried out with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Production.The Trinidadian Minister,Julius Peppers Packers Jersey, who is on a short visit to Guyana, is continuing those discussions and has expressed that both governments have moved forward with the agreement.During his address to the media,Taylor Gabriel Falcons Jersey, Maharaj said that together with Dr. Ramsammy, they have finalized the results of the technical team in terms of the fixed commodities which were identified to be pursued. These include animal feed such as corn.He noted too, that their vision entails the implementation of processing facilities in Guyana, which he believes will definitely enhance economic activities there by providing employment opportunities for both parties.However, when Minister Maharaj was asked to provide the detailed findings of his team to justify how economically viable they expect that aspect of their venture to be for both parties, he said, “the team has not gone so deeply as yet.”Backing Maharaj at this point was Dr. Ramsammy who said, “We are in the beginning stages of this collaboration and now that we have in our framework, some of the commodities we will be dealing with, we can begin to locate the appropriate geographic locations in Guyana to facilitate each activity. The technical group which is made up of three Guyanese and three Trinidadian experts will meet very soon and we hope that in two weeks they will be able to identify these potential areas.”Maharaj asserted, too, that Trinidad will advertise, through expressions of interest among Agricultural entrepreneurs, and after a response, site visits will be arranged after which requests for proposals will then be solicited. Those proposals will then be evaluated by the technical teams of both sides before the final allocation and rental of land.The Minister also stressed on the importance of the MOU and the strategies that will be utilized to ensure that the goals of T&T and Guyana are achieved. These goals include; reducing food import bills from countries outside of the region,Julian Edelman Patriots Jersey, increasing food security inter-regionally and bringing down food inflation in the respective countries.He added that this is being done with the understanding of creating sustainable employment and the diversification of the T&T economy from being heavily dependent on energy and moving towards developing second frontier.Another point of note is that Maharaj expressed that when the project does materialize, and there is an overwhelming response, he will, “come and ask for more lands to be available.”He said that he is confident that it will be well patronized, because at this point, they are turning away investors, simply because they don’t have the lands available.Further,Chris Hogan Patriots Jersey, when asked about the reports of Trinidadians expressing that there was more than 10,000 acres of fertile agricultural land in T&T,Robert Alford Falcons Jersey, thereby making this land deal irrelevant, Maharaj said, “We may have the acreage, but it is broken up and spread across the entire island.”He added, “And let me categorically say that since we announced the MOU signing and the declaration the year before. To date I haven’t had any concrete objection towards it. What has happened is that certain persons purporting to represent an organization in T&T, stand up on a podium and say these things just to get political mileage.”He also contended that there is no land available for the ventures that they envisage, especially with regard to mega-farming. In fact,Paul Hornung Packers Jersey, the Food Production Minister says that the competition for land in T&T between the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Agriculture is extremely tight.“The Housing Ministry is mandated to provide subsidized housing for persons in Trinidad and Tobago. To date, we have close to 200,000 applications for housing and they only produced about 9,000 houses in the last three years. Before that, they produced about 2,000 houses, so this gives an idea about the intense competition we have for land between housing and agriculture.”“There are lands in T&T, but persons are either uneducated or uninformed when they make statements about Trinidad and Tobago having land for this project. They think lands are just sitting there and not being used, but the lands which they refer to are privately-held lands, where persons have received a lease from the state and as such, they have legal entitlement to those lands, and it would be illegal and immoral for the state to arbitrarily and capriciously take those lands from those individuals without due process.”Minister Maharaj then said, “With regard to this project, both governments are simply acting as facilitators. We are simply helping our investors to have access to land which Trinidad and Tobago does not have to offer.”As it relates to the cost of the land, Dr. Ramsammy said, “In Guyana, farmers pay from $1000 to $1200 per acre depending on the geographical area of the land, and this is an annual payment, but in terms of large acreage for private and international investors, prices would vary in terms of what they want to produce and how much.”“We don’t have any investors that we are currently negotiating with, but rest assured that this land deal will not sideline the small-scale farmers,Mike Mitchell Steelers Jersey, but rather create opportunities for them for satellite production and contract farming.”