RPA accuses Doerga of misrepresenting facts in paddy price row

The Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) yesterday weighed-in on the paddy price row, denying allegations in an advertisement in the February 17 edition of the Kaieteur News.

At a press conference yesterday, General Secretary of the RPA Dharamkumar Seeraj said the advertisement, which professes to have the approval of West Coast farmers, is being used as leverage by rice miller Turhane Doerga to restore the credibility of the Alesie Group of Companies, which has a history of “pauperizing farmers.”

Reading from a prepared RPA statement, Seeraj said the rancorous content of the advertisement was misleading and misrepresented the real facts. He contended that the farmers purportedly represented in the advertisement had since denied granting their sanction as purported in the advertisement.

According to the advertisement, members of the West Coast Millers and Exporters Association (WCM&EA) visited the Rice Millers and Exporters conference at Buddy’s International Hotel, but important issues concerning rice farmers were not discussed to their satisfaction; particularly the price of paddy.

Seeraj said that the forum was organised by a number of entities to discuss proposed changes in the millers licence acquisition process; quality management systems and other related matters. It was therefore not a relevant forum to discus paddy prices. He said there was an open mike that farmers did not take advantage of. However, after the formal proceedings he had an informal gathering where he told the participants, including Doerga, that the rise in paddy price would be driven by the price in the global market. The minimum price farmers will receive for their paddy this season is $4,000 per bag. He said no objections were raised to this.

The statement said the RPA would welcome the formation of a WCM&EA, which according to Seeraj, has not been formed.

When contacted yesterday afternoon, Doerga told Sta-broek News the WCM&EA was indeed formed on February 14. Doerga admitted that he had a hand in the advertisement, but said this was because he was an adviser to the WCM&EA. He said the role of the RPA was to act on behalf of farmers, which it was not doing. “They promised cheaper fertilizer that never came,” he said.

He added that farmers needed to know what their product was worth and the RPA was not assisting in this regard. Instead, he said, the government was selling rice at a cheaper price to keep prices across the board down, which was not lucrative for farmers. But Seeraj said yesterday that the government’s rice selling intervention was quite justified since there was no valid reason for the recent skyrocketing rice price.

“As the farmers’ organisation we can say that farmers did not receive $3,000 to $4,000 per bag of paddy,” Seeraj added.

He said the millers were also not at fault, but it was the middlemen who were manipulating the market. “The RPA advocated and fully supports the establishment of buying centres for rice in bulk because a competitive market will make a level playing field,” Seeraj said.

He said the fertilizer plan was put into action with a loan derived through the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). The fertilizer was supposed to be sourced in Venezuela, but restrictions on loading at the Venezuelan ports made the arrival for this crop too late.

The WCM&EA advertisement also made mention of the Other Countries and Territories (OCT) route to Europe, which was terminated several years ago. According to the advertisement, this resulted in the cutting of the paddy price in half.

But Seeraj said the OCT was always good for Guyana, however, the route was abused by the very persons who are complaining today.

According to the RPA’s statement, Doerga contended on Monday’s edition of the NCN 6 o’clock news that Seeraj was confrontational and not looking at the best interests of the farmers.

However, it said, it was the RPA’s representation of the farmers that forced Doerga to resume paying farmers money in arrears since 2006. (Melissa Charles)