Ministry owes EMBD $2B

Rambharat said the EMBD had to deal with debt payments. He said the EMBD has undertaken some audits into some contracts which is being dealt with by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi. “There are other contracts still to be paid.

The ministry itself has the usual payables that have accumulated which we deal with when funding is available,” he said.

Rambharat said after the closure of Caroni (1975) Ltd, the Voluntary Separation of Employment Package (VSE P) required the development of 8,885 residential lots. “In 2010, when I looked at the cost to develop a lot of land it was $150,000 to $170,000. The average cost now is over $750,000,” he said.

“My estimate, when we are done with the Caroni VSE P, taxpayers would have spent about $18 billion.

On average, we have spent $1 million per Caroni worker...and it is not over yet.” He denied claims that his ministry has not been distributing leases, saying that many people do not show up for their leases.

The minister later announced the closure of the Seafood Industry Development Company saying the National Agricultural Marketing Development Company (NAMDEVCO) is also under review. Last week, Caroni Greens Ltd — an entity formed to replace Caroni (1975) Ltd was shut down and 72 persons placed on the breadline.

“NAMDEVCO is responsible for collecting and disseminating data. I am not satisfied by the level of work and have asked NAMDEVCO to do an exercise relating to staffing and its structure to ensure it meets the requirements of the country.

“I have asked the ADB (Agricultural Development Bank) to look at some complaints we have received and deal with them such as inflexibility, bureaucracy and poor customer service. “We are not going to progress in agriculture in the way we have run it for the last 30 to 40 years. A mental change must take place in agriculture starting with the ministry, Rambharat said.