RICE farmers from Region 5, East Demerara/West Berbice, are convinced they are being robbed in transacting business with the SAJ Rice Group Inc. at Burma, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara.

When this newspaper visited that area recently, several farmers and truck drivers who do business with that entity complained bitterly of being ‘short changed’ during their dealings with the complex.
One rice farmer who has been dealing with SAJ for over two years said individuals at the mill are robbing them of their grains, and after milling and packaging, are declaring amounts that are far below their estimates.
The complainant, who hails from Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, said that when he and others arrive at the complex, they are not allowed to oversee the milling and packaging of their paddy, thus resulting in the alleged scam.
He said that when the same amount of paddy is taken to other rice milling entities in other parts of the country, the final declarations on amounts are just what they had estimated, or even exceeding their estimations at times.
A farmer from Central Mahaicony told this newspaper that the SAJ Complex is cheating farmers even during the grading of their paddy, and would give farmers far lower grades than they had expected.
He said that in order to confirm his allegations, he and other farmers would grade their paddy at other rice producing entities after harvesting and get ‘A’ grades, only to be given grade ‘C’, and sometimes lower, on arrival at SAJ.
Farmers from Tiger Ranch (Number 27 Village, Berbice) explained that when this happens, they are given low cash deals for their produce. Some said consequent to the alleged robbery, after the milling and grading processes, they are barely able to make a profit or cover expenses incurred during the cultivation and harvesting of their rice.
Others lamented that when they do business with the rice complex at Burma, they are told that they would be paid for their rice and paddy within a month, but most times they are forced to wait until they harvest another crop before they can receive payment for the previous one.
This newspaper tried unsuccessfully all day to contact officials at the SAJ Rice Group Inc. on their phone numbers 225-4742 and 225-4652 advertised on their signboard, but both numbers kept ringing out.