-farmers owed $240M
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) will be auditing all records of the Mahaicony Rice Ltd, which owes hundreds of famers an estimated $240M.
“The issue of paddy payment is of much concern to the administration,” Persaud said at a recent news conference, while citing Mahaicony Rice Mill for giving the exporting sector a bad name. “We will be conducting an audit of the books to look at the records, to look at what the company is saying. But the company’s bank has also assured us that sums are being repatriated in this regard for several payments,” he added.
On Friday, Persaud announced that Mahaicony Rice owes between 200 and 300 farmers approximately $240 million.
These are farmers, however, to whom the company has already made some payments, he added.
The Mahaicony Rice, Persaud stated, is the main culprit when it comes to millers who are making the lives of farmers difficult. Other millers, he explained, have had “sequencing issues” with banks, but have since sorted these out and are seeing that farmers are being paid.
“Enough is enough already,” Persaud declared, later adding, “We will do everything that is within our power to see that Mahaicony Rice Limited pays farmers… any farmer who wishes to take legal action against the company has the support of this ministry and we will stand cost for the lawyer.”
Several efforts have since been made by this newspaper to contact Mahaicony Rice for a comment on the issue. Repeated calls to General Manager Taramatie Ghani have gone unanswered and she is yet to a respond to an email containing several questions about the company’s financial state and how it intends to deal with the outstanding monies owed to farmers.
Meanwhile, the Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) said that so far the company has started payments and the minister has been urging it and other stakeholders to make timely payments. The administration has implemented various policies to advance the agriculture sector, including the Rice Factories (Amendment) Bill, which was tabled in the National Assembly in July. The Bill seeks to amend the Rice Factories Act of 1998 and is aimed at toughening measures to ensure early payment.
“We have done early amendments but now we will be looking at a deposit to be made by these defaulting millers whereby the GRDB and the RPA can tap this deposit or this special fund so that they can provide farmers who are owed large sums outstanding,” Persaud said. According to him, the bill is to treat delinquent millers. “Those who have over the last three years defaulting on payments are the ones who will have to make the deposit.”
Persaud also highlighted the issue of dam preparation, pointing out that it is one of the most critical aspects related to harvesting. The minister has since written to the Local Government Minister and regional authorities, advising them to accelerate measures in this regard so that farmers can access and transport paddy from the field to mills.
According to GINA, General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association Dharamkumar Seeraj has opined that the late payment is a deliberate move to keep farmers bound to the company.
While referring to the unusual arrangement by the company, which saw it investing US$140,000 in fertilizer for farmers, he emphasised that it was not their core business, GINA reported. Seeraj also said the RPA will not tolerate such an underhand tactic.
