A United States (US)-based company is currently in negotiations to take over the operations of the Mahaicony Rice Mills Limited (MRL), but Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has said that the new company will only be allowed to operate under certain conditions.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle at his Regent Road, Georgetown office last Thursday, the minister confirmed that the company is currently in Guyana to wrap up the negotiation process, adding that he is hopeful that the final agreements will be signed off shortly.
However, the minister stressed that the foreign-based company will not be granted a licence to operate unless it pays all farmers who are owed monies upfront.
“That’s a non-negotiable situation. It mustn’t be a little bit now and a little bit later, they must be paid before a licence is granted,” he stated.
He pointed out that MRL presently has no licence to operate its mills, noting that this licence is granted by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), which has been instructed to not do so unless all the relevant criteria have been satisfied.
“There is nothing to stop this international company from taking over MRL now, but if they do take it over they will need to operate it and they can’t operate it without a license,” he remarked.
Dr. Ramsammy advised that the license will be granted through the GRDB once the farmers have been paid in full.
“I don’t want to hear this thing that we pay them half now and half after the crop…they must be paid now,” he emphasised.
In addition, he related that MRL owes the government in excess of $450M. He said that the new company will have to make satisfactory agreement with the Government of Guyana to repay that debt.
He further stated that at least half of the debt must be paid before the licence is granted and the other half must be paid within a short period of time.
“On the government side, the money that they owe us, we are willing to make some arrangement for payment over a short period of time. But in terms of payment for the farmers, that’s a non-negotiable position. They must be paid up front,” he asserted.
Nevertheless, the minister assured that this US based company is very reputable and one of the largest traders of rice in the world. Although he said he could not disclose the name of the company at this time, he noted that it is a company with approximately 20 years of experience working in Guyana and stressed that it will be good for the local rice industry.
