MEMBER of Parliament (MP) and General-Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA), Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, in his budget presentation last week said the ineffective response from the opposition tells the story of a flawless budget. “We have to appreciate the difficulties that members of the opposition are faced with to criticize the Budget…it is impossible…one must not see the ineffective response to the Budget as necessarily a breakdown in their ability to criticize, but one must see it in the context of addressing a document that is basically flawless,” Seeraj quipped.
In this context, Seeraj contended that the criticisms expounded by the opposition lacked a level of enlightenment.
He responded to People’s National Congress Reform – One Guyana (PNCR-1G) MP, Mrs. Jennifer Wade, who called attention to the several “shortcomings,” including the drainage of lands in the Mahaica/ Mahaicony Abary (MMA) Scheme in Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice).
“In 2009-2010 the MMA constructed a new channel from Belladrum to the Abary Bridge…recently a contract of $139.6M was awarded to Courtney Benn to construct a new sluice at the end of that channel,” Seeraj said.
According to him, this will facilitate the drainage of lands – another example of an argument presented without clarification and out of context, he emphasized.
Seeraj added that channels in several areas in West Coast Berbice, mentioned by Wade, have been under rehabilitation in 2010.
“There was complete rehabilitation of the entire secondary system in the Abary Berbice area in 2010…the channels referred to were done since early 2009 and put on contract maintenance,” he said.
The government MP pointed out too that the entire village residential drainage infrastructure was refurbished in 2010 under the Community Drainage and Irrigation Programme, where contracts were given to residents for maintenance.

Upside Down
Continuing along the line in the area of his expertise- rice, Seeraj charged that Wade got the figures for rice “upside down.”
Wade argued that 70 percent of the rice exports were made by foreign companies.
“One has to wonder,” Seeraj said, “Not in the least was it 70 percent; (because) foreign companies exported 31.35 percent of our total export, which amount to about 105,000 tonnes.”
The Agriculture Ministry reported that last year alone the rice sector made a record production of 360,996 tonnes – a record performance, and had the highest level of exports. This year the sector is projected to increase its production even further to 379,628 tonnes, which is a 4.9 percent increase in value-added.
Another fact, also related in an “upside down” manner, was the fact that the Guyana Rice Export Board (GREB) was “efficient” in supporting rice exports as Seeraj pointed out that GREB is no longer existent.
The Guyana Rice Export Board (GREB), Guyana Rice Milling & Marketing Authority (GRMMA) and the National Paddy and Rice Grading Centre (NPRGC) were replaced by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
“One could have found some justification of their existence when the government was in control of mills…GREB was only successful in selling out the assets of the people of this country…they were darling deals,” he stressed.
The MP explained that, prior to its dissolution, the activities engaged in by that entity benefitted card bearing members of the PNC.
Seeraj described the failing of the sector’s management under the PNC as a “weight” around the necks of farmers.
He added that the problem of delayed payment to farmers that the sector currently has to deal with stems from the foreign-owned millers – who own the assets that were sold out under the PNC regime.
“These very people own rice mills that were given away by the previous administration,” Seeraj said.

Not Daunted
Seeraj stressed that the current administration will not be daunted by challenging conditions, but will persevere and provide the necessary infrastructural development to cater to the needs of the Guyanese people.
The government MP alluding to contentions by Alliance for Change (AFC) MP, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, who  in delivering his criticisms, had said that the reduction of the corporation taxes, among other areas, means little to the Guyanese people.
However, Seeraj wittily concluded that, for a Presidential candidate, the AFC MP had little to say.
He pointed out that immediately after Ramjattan criticized the five percent reduction, he said the telephone companies did not benefit – contradicting earlier sentiments that the five percent was meaningless.
“Those who got it, it meant nothing; and then, for those who did not get it, it was a big thing. They can create jobs, they can’t create jobs…It really boggles the mind that how is it that the members can argue in a clear manner against this budget.”
Referring to criticisms from PNCR-1G MP Mervyn Williams that the new varieties released by the GRDB, GRDB 9 and GRDB 10 were not producing the yields that farmers expect, and that the GRDB Chairman and General Manager were not on the same page as it relates to the yield potential, Seeraj responded that “…the Member was making quotations of convenience.”
He pointed out that, in the same line quoted by Williams, the concept was clear and not what Williams sought to portray.
Seeraj quoted the same lines as Williams did, only this time in their entirety.
The GRDB Chairman said: “Farmers have achieved yields of 45 to 50 bags per acre from the GRDB 10, while the GRDB 9 produced yields of 40 to 45 bags per acre.”
And according to the GRDB General Manager: “These new varieties have yield potential of 45 to 50 bags per acre under good management practices.”
Seeraj stressed that the chairman gave the specific averages for each variety, while the General Manager gave the average for both varieties – hence there is no disparity.
“I do not know what more we could do to enlighten the Honourable Member…(however) those who express a desire to live in their ignorance should be allowed to,” he said.
The government MP said the misconceptions brought to the House were based on statements taken out of context.
“If you look at the statistics you can draw clear lines…Rice did well because the PPP was there to ensure that it did well. It took us a number of years to correct and to rectify the mistakes that were made by the PNC…in 1989 we imported rice to satisfy domestic consumption,” Seeraj said.
Williams also said that the agriculture moves are happening in an unplanned manner.
Seeraj debunked this contention and emphatically stated that if agricultural advances were unplanned it would not have recorded the successes it has to date.
“How is it that we would have recorded these achievements in years that have proved challenging? In all sectors in agriculture there have been conscientious moves in consultations with stakeholders to ensure that we move forward in a manner that ensures sustainability,” he questioned.
Seeraj reiterated a call, sounded by many MPs on the government side – that the 2011 Budget be analyzed in context.
“If one were to look in isolation of the others we will not have a full appreciation of what it is that the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/ Civic) government has been trying to achieve…the budget, when looked at in context, is simply a continuation of the trends, patterns and this administration’s efforts to improve their lives…in every aspect of life,” he emphasized.