Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy recently expressed concern over the fact that rice farmers across the country are still not receiving payment for paddy supplied to millers and has vowed to unleash the full force of the law on errant millers; and to have done so in the very early days of his new portfolio is most welcome and commendable. This is a testimony to the fact that the minister is au fait with the problems affecting rice farmers.
According to the minister: ““I do not expect, as minister, to have to deal with businessmen who do not pay our farmers…I have a special message for Mahaicony Rice Limited (MRL) and Mr. Jaigobin: too many farmers are not being paid for paddy and rice they took from them…even though the situation is better this Christmas compared to last year’s Christmas, I will be an impatient minister when it comes to the payment of our farmers… Millers cannot use the rice farmers as their bankers, it is unethical, immoral and illegal to use rice farmers as bankers…I hope that practice comes to an end in 2012.” These are very assuring words from the minister and indeed, outstanding payments to farmers by millers has been a nagging problem for a very long time despite the enactment of a new law and new regulations governing payments.
“The law must be enforced. If people’s licences must be taken away, then we must do so, and the Ministry of Agriculture will work with the RPA and the GRDB and farmers. We will facilitate the farmers, using the law in our courts so that those who have been not as diligent in payments will now understand there is a consequence,” the minister stressed.
From what has been said, it would appear that the minister would be adopting a no-nonsense approach towards errant millers which is the correct approach, because if this is not done the payment problems will not be stamped out as it is clear that some millers are determined to flout the law and exploit farmers which is so unfair and unjust.
Rice farmers have to toil, make sacrifices and invest a lot to produce rice to earn a livelihood and it has to be agonising for them after going through such hardships they cannot receive the money due to them. It is not like they are begging for it. It is what they have honestly and dedicatedly worked for and may have debts to service from banks and other businesses, which supply them with inputs such as spares, fuel, fertiliser and other chemicals. So if farmers do not receive timely payments they will not be able to service their debts on time, and this could jeopardise their credit worthiness and by extension their means of livelihood and the welfare of their families.
In addition, rice farming is a high-risk venture as it is subject to the vagaries of the weather which in the context of global warming has become very unpredictable and irregular. When crops are damaged the losses farmers suffer are enormously high which threatens their viability.
Therefore, farmers should not be treated in a shabby manner and be exploited by rapacious millers. Instead, they must be treated with the highest degree of respect and appreciation because they are the backbones of this country as they are the ones who produce food, which is indispensable to man’s existence, and also earn hard cash for the national economy and create thousands of jobs for others.
The minister has made his position on the issue uncompromisingly clear and will now be held accountable on his pronouncement.