A success story
EDITORIAL
Stabroek News
May 7, 2004
Gerald Mekdeci, cement dealer turned farmer, will no doubt earn admiration for his tenacity in forging ahead with his non-traditional Kaikotin Farm project in the intermediate savannahs to produce exotic fruits and vegetables from land known only for producing beans, oranges and animal feed corn.
Four years ago, Mekdeci braved the harsh tropical climate of the intermediate savannahs, his lack of farming knowledge and experience, his sceptics and even government's inertia to plunge ahead to pave the way to produce fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe, honeydew melon, butternut squash, zucchini, amber cup, pasta squash, cauliflower and broccoli.
The Internet was his medium of education on farming and Mekdeci begun farming four acres of land in a pilot project. By trial and error he got his transplanting technique right and persevered against a 50 pound per acre yield for broccoli and zero yield for lettuce and cauliflower. He kept at it, fiddling with soil nutrients and seedlings while adding new types of seedlings to the project. He took a gamble on polyethylene plastic mulch and saw his yield jumping from 50 pounds per acre to 12 000 pounds. A grant from the EU funded CARFT enabled him to develop the exact soil specification needed for the project.
Mekdeci also faced what every businessman in Guyana has faced, lengthy processes to acquire duty and consumption-tax concessions from the government to import equipment and material. It took him an entire year to get duty-free concessions on seedling trays for broccoli and cauliflower, the permits for which are only valid for three months and has to be renewed through the very bureaucratic system.
"The government and private sector don't value time the same way," were Mekdeci's remarks on that issue. The government, obviously, does not see time as money.
Mekdeci has injected so far $40M into his project and would need additional capital to expand and is not unwilling to entertain a partner in the operation. No doubt, with the produce hitting the market like hot cakes, Mekdeci will not be short of offers.
To Mr Mekdeci, we say congratulations on your project. Mekdeci cannot be one of those businessmen whom the President referred to recently as sitting on their "asses" while complaining about everything and lacking that risk-taking spirit. It is the government which has been tried and found wanting in this regard.
The government should be bending over backwards to facilitate investments instead of frustrating them in a bureaucratic system plagued with delays. The government has to do all that it can to facilitate investments and in an expeditious manner.
The government is planning to have established an advisory council to advise it on economic matters. The Poverty Reduction Strategy progress report speaks of a national economic advisory council with membership drawn from academia, the political parties, the private sector and international organisations which will be established next year to provide advice to the executive and legislative branches of the government.
Having committees in place in Guyana is usually just a public relations gesture. We have seen a number of committees established only to be eventually disbanded or not taken seriously.
The government has to get down to the nuts and bolts of facilitating investments and the private sector and also show respect for the sector if it expects respect in return.
No less than the President himself has shown scant regard for businessmen when he accuses them in non-presidential language of sitting on their "asses" and complaining. Additionally, the government in its rhetoric seeks to emphasise its recognition of the private sector as the one to take the lead in the economy. Yet the President has failed to respond to a letter for a meeting with the Private Sector Commission's outgoing chairman, Peter DeGroot, after concerns were raised about the sidelining of the PSC.
Mr President, action speaks louder than words.