IT was instructive to see Mr. E.B. John’s critique last Saturday on the “organisational lacuna” that plagues the National Cane Farming Committee (NCFC). Instead of the inanities and ad hominem which characterised the response of the NCFC Chairman to the critical issues which I had raised, it would help if he (and I may add the Cane Farming Officers of GuySuCo) were to heed the comments and advice of Mr. John who is an ‘originator’ and ‘authority’ on the development and administration of the ‘private’ cane farming sector.

As a private cane farmer and concerned Guyanese, I had drawn attention to the diminishing output from private cane farmers and the apparent anachronism/obsolescence/uselessness of the NCFC.

My specific calls for an examination of these issues by the relevant authorities initially in GUYSUCO and then the NCFC were met with minutiae, irrelevant defensiveness and personal acrimony.

The obvious failure by GUYSUCO and the NCFC to address the real issues of diminishing outputs from current farmers and the abandonment of several farms by long established private cane farmers and cooperatives to which I had alluded is alarming.

The Chairman’s reference to ‘the leasing of more lands to farmers at Wales, Uitvlugt, Albion and Wales raises another set of questions such as the persons/organisations to whom these lands were leased, when and how they were leased and what has been their production so far?

Finally, the Chairman mentioned two contributions made by the NCFC, namely, the reduction of fertilizer charges and the establishment of a revolving fund; but his doing so prompts more questions than provide answers to the real issues. For example: When was the “revolving fund” established? What is its purpose and its utilisation so far?

What about the more long-standing, more critical issues of overhead charges of 30% to 50% levied on farmers by the Estates? What about the silence surrounding the EU funds? Can the NCFC Chairman and GuySuCo address these issues, instead of engaging in personal attacks on farmers?

NOWRANG PERSAUD