AGRICULTURE Minister Leslie Ramsammy has assured small farmers owed by the Mahaicony Rice Mills (MRM) that they will be paid in full by the end of April.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Dr. Ramsammy said the Government of Guyana has been in continuous dialogue with the company and, after passing through the court, they have come to an agreement to pay the farmers what is due them.
He said the problem has existed for too long.
“Particularly, one of the challenges of rice has been payments to farmers, especially the small farmers and, in my first week as Minister of Agriculture, there were famers owed significant amounts of money, in excess of $200M, by MRM,” he said.
Ramsammy said he was very open when talking about the company and naming it as it has had various arrangements.
He stated that since his ministry decided to take a firm hold on the situation, farmers started to receive payments in parts and he is pleased that, finally, there is an agreement that could assist those farmers.
Ramsammy said those farmers have also indicated their appreciation for what has been done, so far.
He maintained that, once the farmers would have begun to receive payments, other difficulties that were more pressing could have been dealt with.
“Since then, we have been working with the farmers and payments are being made. So farmers have spoken to me and have appreciated the way the matter was handled.
“…Guyana has been in court with that particular miller asking the court to, in fact, repossess properties belonging to that company and what we have done is that we have been negotiating,” he reported.
Ramsammy said, too, that instead of closing off all operations at those factories, works have been continuous, since it would have brought about a setback in the rice production if they were to have a closure and this is not needed if the country is to be successful in this sector.

FIRST CONDITION
“My first condition was that the farmers must be paid off and, if they are paid off, our other difficulties will be dealt with instead of bringing the operations of those factories to a halt, which would, indeed, have an impact on the farmers,” he admitted.
Ramsammy said, now with operations still continuing at those factories, the other challenges are being dealt with and he is encouraged by this move and is optimistic that the country is ready to move forward in this regard.
“I am encouraged that this particular problem that the farmers had in the past is now being taken care of and I would hope that what farmers went through years ago, when, by and large across Guyana you had that as a major complaint, in 2012, we will see that the problem is barely existing or eliminated totally,” he said.
Ramsammy added that the farmers’ interest is important to the Government of Guyana and, as such, every step will be taken to resolve issues that are affecting them.
“For me, it was ensuring that the farmers get their money, repossession of the factories would not have led to the farmers getting paid and I expect, by the end of March, latest end of April, all of our farmers would have been paid and I am sure that, this time, the sum is considerably less than $200M and $100M,” he said.