CHAIRMAN of Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Mr. Alli Baksh, received a delegation of rice farmers last week to hear complaints about non-payment for paddy.
The group, representing planters between Riverstown and Aurora, said they sold the grains to Mahaicony Rice Mills branch at Vilvoorden, also on the Essequibo Coast, several weeks ago and have not yet been paid.
The complainants said they are facing bankruptcy and the situation is affecting their livelihood as rice planting is what they depend on to maintain their families, including schoolchildren.
They had previously complained to Parliamentarian Parmanand Persaud, who said he is displeased by the way millers are treating rice farmers on the Essequibo Coast.
He told the Guyana Chronicle that millers are required to pay farmers 50 per cent of the cost of paddy within two weeks of purchasing and the balance within 42 days.
Mr. Persaud added that late payments legally attract interest but millers are not adhering to the legislation and farmers are suffering.
According to him, payments are delayed for long periods without any proper explanation and farmers have lamented their financial difficulties, including not being able to undertake land preparation for sowing the current crop.