General Manager of Hope Estate, Mr. Terry Singh, told the Chronicle that the United States-based Guyanese investors have not abandoned the idea, which they had initiated about two years ago, but they are assessing the direction in which the crime situation is unfolding before taking further steps to bring the investment to reality.

Singh said he has been in regular contact with the investors, who have maintained that they are still interested in the project. He is optimistic that the investment will materialize since it would contribute positively to the economic and social development of the community.

The venture to bottle local coconut water should have started last year, but the investors ran into difficulties in obtaining suitable equipment for the bottling plant.

They had anticipated that the equipment would have been available in neighbouring Brazil from where it would have been more economically and logistically feasible to import it. However, no such plant was available in Brazil. So, consequently, they sought to obtain one from India.

According to Singh, the investors were successful in locating a suitable plant in India, but they are awaiting the outcome of the present crime wave.

The venture will be in conjunction with the Hope Estate. However, coconut farmers from other communities would also benefit because Hope does not have the capacity to supply the quantity of coconuts that would be required by the plant. Hope is one of the largest coconut estates in Guyana. It has over 3,500 acres of coconut trees producing some 175,000 kilogrammes (250,000 pounds) of copra. The bulk of the copra is sold to the edible oil company NEOCOL.

Chairman of the Hope Estate Board, Mr. Raj Singh, told the Chronicle that the fruition of the venture would be very beneficial to coconut farmers, who are presently experiencing severe economic hardship because of the extremely low price for copra.

“It will result in the resuscitation of the coconut industry,” Singh predicted.

The pioneers for the venture are two US-based Guyanese, Dr. Naresh Singh and Mr. Rasheed Carter.

The venture will attract an initial investment of US$500,000 and will create employment for about 30 persons.

Dr. Singh is from Triumph on the East Coast Demerara, and he has worked extensively with the United Nations on sustainable agriculture. According to Raj Singh, Dr Singh wants to make a contribution to the developmental process in Guyana.

Rasheed Carter, formerly of Berbice, is now a successful businessman in the United States.

Meanwhile, the General Manager of the estate said the final design for the one and a half-mile access road to Hope Estate has been completed and its construction should begin within the next three months. This road will be of great benefit to the community, particularly, for children attending the Cove and John Secondary School, since mini-buses will be able to ply the route. At present, vehicles encounter great difficulty in traversing the track because of its poor condition, Singh explained.