–reportedly has poor environmental record
Paulo Cesar Quartiero, a large-scale Brazilian rice producer who is among a group recently ordered by the Brazilian Supreme Court to vacate the Indian reservation Raposa Serra do Sol, has alleged that the Government of Guyana has proposed to lease him land for 99 years.
Concerns have been raised about this since Quartiero has been described in the Brazilian and international media as the force behind “the movement of resistance of non-Indians” in the northern Brazilian State of Roraima, separated from Guyana by the Ireng and Takutu rivers.
Contacted about Quartiero’s claims, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud would only say that investors from the State of Roraima visited recently to explore the availability of land for rice cultivation in Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo (Region Nine). He did not respond when asked whether Quartiero and the other farmers evicted by the State of Roraima were the investors who visited recently.
Persaud said on Tuesday: “A group of investors from the State of Roraima visited Guyana recently, to explore the availability of land for rice cultivation in the Region Nine area. The government is willing to consider an acceptable investment proposal for rice and soya cultivation in the region. The rice is not to be sold on the local market but only for export to Brazil. Specific areas for cultivation were identified by the investors. No consideration will be given to land demarcated or to be demarcated for Amerindian communities. The availability of land areas is under review by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission.”
According to Persaud, several Amerindian communities are already cultivating rice in Region Nine on a small scale. The government, he said, has concluded a project with the Spanish government on expanding rice cultivation in nine villages in Regions Nine and Eight (Potaro/Siparuni). However, Persaud did not say whether the introduction of large-scale rice cultivation in Region Nine has been discussed with the administrative body.
Instead, he said, “Any private involvement in the sector will give a boost to rice production and allow for farmers and millers to tap into Brazil’s large rice market, especially with the impending opening of the Takutu Bridge.”
Rice cultivating activities in regions Eight and Nine, he said, will create jobs and stimulate more economic activities for residents.
“During my recent visit, several communities expressed much interest in rice cultivation being expanded,” Persaud stated.
Asked whether the Ministry of Agriculture has considered the impact large-scale mechanized cultivation could have on the regions’ ecosystem Persaud would only say, “All investors are required to comply with all our national laws including the Amerindian Act, and Environmental Protection Act.”
He said conservation organisations like Iwokrama and Conservation International (CI) Guyana have not been informed of the possible project since the ministry has “envisaged” no role for them.
The government recently signed four technical cooperation agreements with the Brazilian authorities which are aimed at boosting agricultural development. This was reported in the May 6 edition of Stabroek News and sourced to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press statement.
On a recent visit to Brazil, GINA had said, Persaud finalised agreements for upland rice production, corn production, aquaculture and forestry. The cultivation of rice in the hinterland areas of Guyana is being catered for in the upland rice production project as the release noted that it is costly to import rice into those areas from the coastland.
On March 19, in a 10-1 vote, the Brazilian tribunal’s judges reaffirmed the borders of the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve located in the State of Roraima, and ordered the expulsion of a group of rice farmers. Before the matter was heard by the court, a March 20 article published online by the Sydney Morning Herald said the Brazilian farmers had vowed to fight any attempt to force them out, and several stockpiled arms and threatened to blow up bridges and spike roads if police moved in.
Quartiero reportedly led the resistance of the non-Indian farmers. Reports in the May 2 online edition of Journal do Brasil said Quartiero left the reserve one day after the deadline given by the Supreme Court to vacate Raposa Serra do Sol. Brazilian police and soldiers during a 12-hour operation to remove non-indigenous residents from the Indian reservation ordered Quartiero to leave.
Questioned by Journal do Brasil about his future in agriculture Quartiero said he was very “enthused by proposals from the government of Guyana to lease [me] land for 99 years”.
