Consultant for the Blackbelly Sheep Expansion Project, Dr Leroy McClean, has defended the Government’s move to send some of the animals to Guyana as part of an initiative to increase food security.
Speaking on Friday during as debate continued on the 2023-2024 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in the Lower House, Dr McClean explained that Barbados was not simply giving away sheep to Guyana but was bolstering the island’s food security capabilities by increasing the number of the livestock available to the island to generate revenue.
“The whole intention is that by partnering with Guyana, we have the resources which we can use to develop the [Blackbelly sheep] population, and in doing so, when we have a larger population we can then slaughter the sheep there in Guyana, the carcasses are exported back to Barbados where we can have the speciality cuts and the value added, which can increase the revenue base for Barbados,” he said.
The consultant said the hides of the sheep were also needed for a planned development of a local leather industry.
“The intention is to develop a leather industry from the Blackbelly hides; we can’t do this if you don’t have that critical mass of sheep. The average Blackbelly hide is only about six square feet or so, which means that we need large numbers, and if you are going to get the population up to that one million which the Prime Minister has suggested we should reach, we can not do that in Barbados alone.”
At the same time, Dr McClean encouraged local farmers who are interested in significantly increasing their sheep production to consider taking up the available opportunities to relocate to Guyana, given the large resources that would be at their disposal in that country.
“As far as I know, the St Barnabus Accord makes provision for Barbadian farmers to move to Guyana, but it seems as though we generally believe that the only countries we should leave Barbados and go to are the United States, Canada, or somewhere in Europe.
“There is great opportunity for Barbadian farmers to move to Guyana, and not necessarily as individuals, but we can form cooperatives where we can go there, settle in a particular area and the government of Guyana, to the best of my knowledge, is willing to provide the infrastructure which would be necessary for farmers to settle there,” Dr McClean said.
(SB)
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