Guyana low cost land - I've been saying this for years...

Guyana low cost land
Published on: 6/17/07.

by TREVOR YEARWOOD

The Nation Newspaper

NOW THAT IT'S CHEAP, Bajans need to start buying up land in Guyana.

This is the message from the Guyana Association of Barbados Inc. (GABI), which warns that if they fail to cash in on the opportunity, Bajans would have to line up to buy land there years from now.

"We are not necessarily saying come and live there if you don't like it, but certainly, come and invest there. You will get your money back," said GABI member Len Corsbie.

He told the SUNDAY SUN: "The Trinidadians are walking into Guyana and buying up land . . . . The Brazilians are also coming over the border by the truckload and buying up land."

While some Barbadians are taking advantage of opportunities in the South American republic, not enough were doing so, he said. Guyana held out opportunities for acquiring vast tracts of land at low cost for a range of projects.

An area where Barbadians, known for superb management skills, are needed is services, but investment opportunities abound in agriculture, he stated.

"A lot of the agriculture in Guyana is the small, peasant-holding type," Corsbie noted. "What Guyana needs is for people with deep pockets to come in and put large tracts of land under cultivation, in fish-farming, corn and other crops."

GABI's secretary Liesl Harewood, said: " . . . Within 20 years, people of the Caribbean will be lining up in Guyana for land because there will be no more land available outside there," Corsbie predicted.

GABI was set up to foster closer relations between the peoples of Guyana and Barbados, to improve the lot of Guyanese living here, and to aid the overall development of both nations.

The association also helps Guyanese people and institutions hit by floods. One of the projects it has been funding is the rebuilding of an old theatre in Georgetown, the Theatre Guild, which was severely damaged in "the great flood" of 2005.

A concert held in Barbados raised BDS$50 000 for the project, but GABI members estimate the overall work will cost US$120 000.

GABI also announced it was trying to establish a skills register of Guyanese living here legally.

This will help the institution make referrals when people are requesting certain skills for jobs, members explained. (TY)