-silent on Mohamed’s claim about connection between official and contractor
The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday rejected allegations by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed that its Black Belly Sheep Programme has been a failure but it has maintained silence on claims of connections between a ministry official and a company that has secured large contracts connected to the initiative.
The ministry’s response follows a video statement released by Mohamed in which he levelled various allegations at Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha in connection with the Black Belly Sheep Project. Mohamed also called on Mustapha to resign, alleging that the programme has become another “white elephant” project that has failed to benefit livestock farmers.
Before the Ministry of Agriculture released its response yesterday, Kiskadee Watch contacted Minister Mustapha on Wednesday for a comment on the allegations.
Responding via WhatsApp, Mustapha said, “He (Mohamed) is a sanction man. A response from the ministry is to be expected. This man getting too personal now and getting people family involve.”
The ministry yesterday addressed some of the allegations during a special programme featuring Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), Dr. Dwight Waldron, and Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth.
During the programme, Waldron described the Black Belly Sheep Programme as “transformative,” explaining that it was launched to improve the country’s sheep genetics after years of limited genetic enhancement within the livestock sector.
According to Waldron, Guyana initially imported approximately 1,000 Black Belly sheep from Barbados under the initiative. Since then, he said, the breeding programme has expanded the population to more than 5,000 animals, with the potential to have reached almost 7,000 had additional time not been spent allowing the imported sheep to acclimatise to local conditions before breeding commenced.
Waldron further stated that more than 450 livestock farmers have directly benefited from the programme. He said many of those beneficiaries are now into the third generation of breeding, with the ministry introducing Dorper genetics to improve meat production while maintaining the resilience and reproductive qualities of the Black Belly breed. He added that several women have become successful full-time livestock farmers through the initiative, with some emerging among the country’s leading sheep breeders.
Ellis breeding centre
Responding to photographs circulated online showing the Ellis, West Coast Berbice facility overgrown with vegetation, Waldron acknowledged that there are currently no sheep housed there. However, he rejected suggestions that the project had been abandoned.
He explained that development of the Ellis breeding centre had been delayed by adverse weather conditions but said significant preparatory works had already been completed, including drainage and irrigation infrastructure, soil testing, GPS mapping and multiple rounds of mechanical land clearing across the 50-acre site.
Waldron disclosed that 200 Radio Frequency Identification-tagged breeding ewes have already been designated for the Ellis facility and said the animals will be transferred there once weather conditions improve sufficiently for operations to commence. He added that two other breeding centres established under the programme have already been completed and are operational.
Addressing Mohamed’s criticisms of the access road leading to the Ellis facility, Wordsworth said claims surrounding the project were inaccurate and failed to reflect how government contracts are awarded.
He explained that the road formed part of the NDIA’s 2023 budget and was awarded through a competitive procurement process administered by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), not by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“The successful bidder through that process, a contract was awarded. That’s through the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. This was done at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board and not the NDIA or the Ministry of Agriculture awarding contracts,” Wordsworth said.
He further disputed claims regarding the road’s dimensions, stating that it measures approximately 3.6 kilometres in length and was constructed at a width of 12 feet rather than eight feet as alleged by Mohamed.
According to Wordsworth, the road is a farm-to-market access route serving multiple users beyond the Black Belly Sheep Project, including GuySuCo operations, rice farmers, cattle farmers and other agricultural stakeholders who depend on it throughout the year.
He said deterioration visible in recent social media photographs resulted from the heavy rainfall experienced during the first half of 2026 and extensive use by heavy equipment transporting cane and agricultural produce. He added that such roads are routinely repaired during the dry season as part of regular maintenance programmes.
The ministry’s programme also featured several livestock farmers who credited the initiative with significantly improving their operations.
Beneficiaries said the breeding stock supplied through the programme resulted in healthier animals, increased lamb production, higher-quality genetics and improved incomes. Some farmers reported expanding their flocks substantially since receiving Black Belly breeding rams from the government, while others described the programme as one of the most beneficial agricultural initiatives they had participated in.
In his video statement, Mohamed alleged that Epcot Enterprise Inc was incorporated in 2021 before receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts.
He said that the company secured a $257 million contract in June 2023 to construct an access road to the Black Belly Sheep Project and alleged that the overall project eventually cost approximately $600 million after the construction of sheep pens and residential buildings.
Mohamed also alleged that Epcot Enterprise Inc. and another company, Epcot Property Holdings, are connected to an official of the Agriculture Ministry through associates and relatives, raising what he described as serious questions about conflicts of interest, transparency and the integrity of the procurement process.
The opposition leader further questioned the value received from the investment, claiming that the Ellis facility has been neglected and asking the government to account for how public funds allocated to the project were spent.
He concluded by calling on Mustapha to resign, arguing that the allegations warranted accountability and a full public explanation of the project’s expenditure.
Questions about Epcot Enterprise Inc and Epcot Property Holdings have not been addressed by Mustapha or the ministry.
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