GLDA Veterinary Services Lab receives GNBS certification
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) today received its official certification from the Guyana National Standards Office (GNBS), bringing it one step closer to offering quality testing and results to the livestock industry.
Minister Zulfikar Mustapha receives a certification plaque from Tourism Minister Oneidge Walrond
During a simple ceremony earlier this week at GLDA’s Mon Repos facility, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that the services offered by the GLDA remain of paramount importance to Guyana’s development as it relates to the livestock sector.
Minister Mustapha said, “… This laboratory began at the Ministry’s head office as a sample processing unit and later transferred to the supporting unit of the GLDA, through the acquisition of an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan. This enabled GLDA to build a new laboratory equipped to improve the quality of services offered to the livestock industry. “
He further noted that the government was keen to make the necessary investments to ensure Guyana remains food-safe while noting that agencies such as the GLDA will have to play a very important role in this process. He said, “This is why facilities like the Veterinary Services Laboratory are vital for us to promote the sector. Now that we receive this certification, the lab will be recognized in the country and, hopefully, in the near future, throughout the Caribbean, ”
The subject Minister also revealed that for the 2021 GLDA Capital Program, almost $ 66 million will be spent to expand the sector. He added that facilities of this nature will be developed and improved over time, in line with the government’s overall development agenda which includes promoting food security in the Caribbean.
Also speaking at the simple ceremony was GLDA CEO, Dr. Grayson Halley who was keen to note that the laboratory will assist farmers and gear producers for exporting livestock and livestock products.
The CEO also stated that large-scale local livestock farms had already made requests to sample at the facility. In this regard, he said that GLDA is now working to put systems in place to conduct those tests immediately.
With Guyana battling the terrible COVID-19 pandemic, the GLDA lab has also demonstrated its ability to support national development programs considered outside of its mandate. The laboratory was able to make its Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine available to assist with testing for the Coronavirus.