Presidential Candidate of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes today said his party has crafted an economic plan that would see further diversification of the country’s economy, by investing in key sectors such as agriculture, tourism and renewable energy.

In the Agriculture Sector, for example, Mr. Hughes said an AFC Government would invest in a number of “international ports” in key regions to tap into global markets, such as the US$65B Palm Oil Industry.

By 2030, the Palm Oil Industry is expected to grow to almost $100B. And while Guyana currently exports Palm Oil, it is done on an extremely small scale. Hughes believes that by investing in an international port in the Barima-Waini District and other infrastructures to support the production of palm oil, the country could significantly increase its export. 

“We would encourage large scale and medium scale palm oil production. The state will create the incentives or create the facilities for the harvesting of that, the storage of it, and the direct export of palm oil from Region One,” Hughes said during his appearance on Sources.

In an addition to Palm Oil, the port would be used to export other agricultural produce.

Also included in the AFC’s economic plans for the Agriculture Sector, is the ramping up of Coconut Production, particularly in Region Two. While coconut is grown widely in the coastal regions of Guyana, primarily around the Pomeroon River, Hughes contends that most of the coconut water sold in Guyana is bottled in Trinidad and Tobago.

He said the AFC, intends to change that by ensuring the majority if not all of the country’s sweet tasting coconut water is bottled right at home, and exported to other countries.

 To support this and other products, Hughes said the AFC would build an international port at Charity.

“In Region Two we will put down an international port at Charity. The Pomeroon River is the deepest river in the country [and] we will put down an international port, and then we will make sure that we have policies in place to increase the agricultural output,” he said.

He said with such a port, Charity could become one of the country’s primary economic hubs.

He said the ports will be complemented by networks of roads, including farm to market roads.

Hughes said the country’s leaders have spoken in the past about the construction of a Goshen Highway but to date it has not materialized. Just this February, the current Administration invited bids for the construction of a $1.9B Parika to Goshen Road Project, but Hughes said an AFC led Administration would bring the project into fruition. The road is seen an important link between the interior regions and coastal markets.

The road, Hughes said, would complement the development of the port at Parika, Region 3.

Meanwhile, in Region 4, Hughes spoke about the party’s highly touted transportation terminal at Durban Park, the introduction of light rails to address the traffic congestion in the city and the establishment of a Ministry of Transportation.

“Region 4, we will make Durban Park, the transportation hub for the country. It will be like the equivalent to a Grand Central. All the traffic coming all the way from the East Coast, all the way from Corriverton will come there, all of the traffic coming from as far South from Lethem will come there, the East Bank of course, and then you will have feeder transportation, buses that will feed Georgetown and the surrounding areas. We will put in light rail between Diamond and Georgetown because this idea of adding 10,000 cars every quarter on the existing roads is crazy,” he said.

He said the introduction of light rails and big buses would significantly reduce the number of cars on the city roads, while boosting economic activities in the city.

Hughes said the AFC would also want to develop another deepwater port at Clonbrook to boost trade and investment in the country.

“At Clonbrook, we will establish an international port. Why that is important, is because the future of this country will include the movement of goods from Northern Brazil which is landlocked at the moment to an international port. Right now it takes five days for goods to move from Manaus to the Atlantic Coast, not even to Miami, just to get up to the Amazon is five days. Its 18 to 20 hours if you put that on a 40ft truck, and once the feasibility is justified, you can put rail eventually. So, certainly, that port at Clonbrook,” he reasoned.

The AFC is one of six political parties contesting the General and Regional Elections on September 1 with Hughes as its Presidential Candidate. In 2011, the party secured seven seats in the National Assembly, and back then it was seen as a force to be reckoned with. That was the last time it contested the general elections as an independent party. Having severed ties with its coalition partner APNU, the AFC is looking to make a major come back this time around.

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