Big refrigerator for Rupununi to push food supply – Ali

Last Updated on Sunday, 5 April 2026, 22:29 by Writer

President Irfaan Ali says a 20-tonne refrigerator will be purchased and sent to the Rupununi to preserve large quantities of fruits, vegetables and meat for transport by air and road to the rest of Guyana.

“We have to optimise the value of this airstrip. That is why in the coming months you will have a 20-tonne refrigerator that can blast-freeze even the meat that you have here so that we will build capacity to take goods to Georgetown,” he said at the commissioning of the Karasasabi airstrip on Saturday.

Dr Ali made the announcement against the backdrop of plans by government to work with farmers in Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) to engage in large scale production of coffee, peanuts, ginger, onions and coffee in Karasabai.

He said efforts had begun for the private sector to partner with small farmers to make agriculture a major economic driver and “optimise value creation that we can have from this airstrip.”

Demerara Waves Online News understands from a usually reliable source that Toka produces large watermelons.

Dr Ali said last year one of the watermelon farms in the Rupununi produced 100,000 units and shipped to Georgetown, and last week 4,000 left for the city.

He also said Region Nine was producing industrial quantities of tomatoes at 20 kilogrammes per plant.

He said approval had already been given for the large-scale production of onions in the Rupununi once villagers were ready to dedicate large swathes of land.

He said his government would be centralising logistics and investing in appropriate vehicles to support transportation of onions from Rupununi to Georgetown. “We want you to get into production – the villages – that’s all we want. Follow this example and get into production,” he said.

It was not immediately clear how large-scale agriculture would fare whenever there is widespread severe flooding across several areas of the Rupununi.

Now that the the Karasabai airstrip has been upgraded at a cost of GY$1.53 billion for the benefit about 1,200 residents, the President said the government was making arrangements with Jag’s Aviation to serve Karasabai with once-weekly flights.

Dr Ali said the new airstrip would allow for the landing of drones with emergency supplies of blood from Lethem to Karasabai.

Guyana had experimented with onion production in the interior about 50 years ago, but transportation was one of the major humbugs.