- Barbados’ Mia Mottley, pushes for investment here
GUYANA has offered to lease Barbadians agricultural land at US$5 or G$1000 per acre, Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley has reportedly said.

The Barbados Nation newspaper said Mottley made the declaration during the opening at Medical Transcription Training Centre in Barbados.

“The Guyanese Government indicated to us that they are prepared to offer Barbadians and other CARICOM persons long leases on agricultural land for sums that are so small as only to be described as nominal,” she said.

“Fifteen acres of land on a long lease can be made available to us for as little as US$5 per acre per year over a 50-year period,” she was quoted as saying.

Mottley led a 40-member business delegation from Barbados to Guyana for the just concluded trade and investment exposition, GUYEXPO.

She said the offer from Guyana offers “tremendous opportunities” to Barbadians.

“With Guyana as a critical part of the Single Market and Economy, [we can] expand our production base beyond these 166 square miles into the vast territory of Guyana.

“Guyana has virtually the same land size as the United Kingdom. Its population is 750 000. The United Kingdom is in excess of 60 million,” Mottley said.

However, she advised those accepting the offer that it would require a willingness to work hard.

“You are not going to find the same easy conditions necessarily that you find here [in Barbados],” she stated.

Mottley stated that with “our capital and skills base”, if Barbadians invested in Guyana it would return to being the powerhouse it once was.

She said a meeting would be held with a block committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and local farmers to see how best Barbadians could take advantage of the opportunity.

She said there were also a number of other opportunities in Guyana.

“They want investment in a number of enterprises from their sawmills in order to upgrade their technology. They want to be able to expand their database and we are looking at the logistics of transport.”