Dear Editor,
I wish to join with my fellow letter writers, who are mostly rice farmers like myself, on issues of millers and governmental agencies; and I have to agree with all that has been said about the devious business practices of rice millers countrywide. So too are the service agencies within the rice industry chief amongst them are the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the National Drainage and Irrigational Authority. These agencies are an integral part of paddy and rice production they both have mandatory responsibilities but they are very disorganized and have been offering vital services in peculiar ways much to the dissatisfaction of well-intentioned rice farmers.
I am extremely happy to support Mr. Mohamed Khan of the Essequibo coast who is a reliable and very frequent letter writer who deals with the woes of the rice industry in a very forthright stance. In one of his most recent letters he has rightly and unambiguously called on central government to intervene on the way the millers deal with all rice farmers. He demanded that rice millers be more honourable with the country’s rice farmers. Mr. Khan, I salute you for your efforts to seek justice for all hardworking farmers everywhere. Do not be intimidated by anyone!
Rice millers of our country have put into practice every conceivable means to cheat the farmers of what rightfully belongs to them. These heartless people stop at nothing in their pursuit to exploit the poor farmers. The GRDB has been turning a blind eye to all the misdeeds of the capitalist mentality of the millers and their business associates.
It is a well-known fact that rice millers have stopped taking overdrafts from their banks which would have helped them to pay all rice farmers in a reasonably good time. Their exploitation technique involves owing the farmers for prolonged periods so as to have access to funding for their milling operations including expansion and bank mortgages. With such business arrangements, they have to pay no interest on bank overdrafts. They have taken the farmers’ money unilaterally interest-free to run their business. I have to leave a quote for unscrupulous people. It is said that money that is earned honestly stretches and it stretches again but money that is earned by devious means will disappear as if by magic. So, at the bottom line of all things there is a deliberate act in delayed payments to farmers for paddy sold to the millers.
For a rice miller to operate his rice milling complex, first he has to apply and obtain a licence to operate such a business entity. If this is granted it has to be issued under the provisions of the country’s “Factory Act” which has rules to follow. When a miller fails to adhere to the stipulated rules, his licence is called into question by the GRDB. Then penalties are applied in the form of suspension or non-renewal of their licence. But GRDB always fails to enforce the rules that govern the act.
The drainage and irrigation agency should renounce their lopsided services to all rice farmers and start servicing us with some level of decency and unquestionable application of their services. Stop the discrimination and be more liberal in the discharge of your meaningful services. I now call upon the Minister of Agriculture to revamp the Board of Directors of this agency or be deemed as indifferent to the cause and concern of the farmers’ plight.
National policy makers must never take us for granted. We are important for development and you all know it!
Yours faithfully,
Ganga (Bobby) Persaud
