GENERAL SECRETARY of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, has disclosed that as of yesterday, 50 per cent of the farmers owed by Mahaicony Rice Limited (MRL) have been paid amounts owed to them. He said farmers are pleased that the payments are finally forthcoming after being owed for almost 12 months now.
MRL had signed agreements with rice farmers to have half of the payment ready after the first 14 days, and the rest after 41 days. Delays after that will attract two per cent plus the current lending rate at banks as interest. The company has violated numerous such agreements.
Only recently, MRL’s proprietor, Mr. Jai Beni, confirmed that the embattled company will be resuming its local operations.
MRL is one of the largest rice millers in Guyana, doing business in Guyana since 1991, and reportedly controls a significant percentage of the paddy purchases in Guyana.

An amendment to the Rice Factories Act is expected to ensure that millers have to pay every farmer 95 percent before they receive a licence. This must be completed within 42 days of supply. The Rice Factories (Amendment) Bill 2010 was read for the first time in the National Assembly in July.
More recently, in the first week of March, the government side was criticized by opposition members in Parliament for not bringing priority bills to the National Assembly.