The Guyana Hemp Industries, the company behind the unrelenting activism for the legalisation and production of industrial hemp in Guyana, has declared 2022 the ‘year for hemp production in Guyana.’
Lands have been cleared, people are standing by and equipment is ready to be put to the plow following the government’s approval of the Guyana Hemp Policy.
Although the policy paves the way for the cultivation of industrial hemp in Guyana, the process is stalled in the absence of a legal and regulatory framework.
After more than five years of dedicated and serious lobbying and millions of dollars spent on spreading awareness, the company is well assured that the production of hemp in Guyana will be achieved this year.
Two spots have already been identified: one at Kuru Kururu on the Linden/Soesdykle Highway in close proximity to the highly anticipated Silica City, the brainchild of President Irfaan Ali; and another at Mara, an old sugar plantation located in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
Co-Chair of Guyana Hemp Industries Michael Kirton and a News Room team visited the Kuru Kururu location early Tuesday morning where the first seed is expected to be planted soon.
“From all indications and responses from, the government seems that they would finally put an end to illegal hemp in Guyana… by the end of January, we hope they will fully remove the barriers for hemp production in Guyana.
“We are a little saddened that the final barriers were not removed before the end of the year,” a hopeful Kirton related.
The Kuru Kururu location will be tested for what will be replicated in each of the ten administrative regions and poised to create employment opportunities not only with farms but processing facilities.
“This area was selected because it was never touched, it is organic… we hoping that the Kurur Kururu project will become an example for people in other communities,” he added as he talked up the establishment of hemp agricultural investment zones.
In 1962, Guyana signed onto and ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic but hemp was removed from the list.
The Guyana Hemp Industries is hopeful that the government will follow through and adjust domestic laws as it has promised.
The final approval will be given under tight control, the News Room was previously informed. It comes as there are lingering fears that hemp can be used recreationally and it could camouflage the cultivation of marijuana which remains illegal.
Speaking on the readiness of hemp advocates across the country, Kirton said everyone stands ready to start the associated production and manufacturing activities with land clearing underway.
He said the body has already entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a USA-based company to provide supplies seeds and equipment needed to start the project in Guyana.
