AGRICULTURE Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has emphasized that SeaRice Caribbean Guyana, the United States-based (US-based) company which has acquired the assets of the Mahaicony Rice Mills Limited (MRL), will not be issued with a licence to operate until government is satisfied that the MRL indebtedness to rice farmers has been fully liquidated. SeaRice Caribbean Guyana has successfully acquired the assets of the MRL partly by agreeing to liquidate all MRL debts owed to the government and to rice farmers with whom the MRL had been doing business. SeaRice has already paid the government $495 million, and is in process of paying approximately $54 million in debts to some 116 farmers.

In an interview with this publication yesterday, Dr Ramsammy said that while he is happy that this particular arrangement has been concluded, he would be even happier when the final rice farmer owed by the MRL has been paid off.
Only then would he keep his promise to SeaRice to grant them, through the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB),
a licence to operate, he emphasized.

“As soon as I’m satisfied that the farmers have been paid, I will instruct GRDB to give them (SeaRice Caribbean Guyana) the licence to operate. They have taken over control (of the MRL), but they don’t have a licence to operate at this time…. They will have to get a licence to operate, but I will not issue that licence,” the Agriculture Minister explained.

The minister further advised that he has requested the GRDB to begin processing the licence application from SeaRice, but to not issue that licence until all the farmers have been paid off.
Moreover, he has asked the General Manager of SeaRice, Mr. Doug Chappels, to retain a level of flexibility, since he is not 100 percent certain that every farmer has been included in the current 116-person list.

Meanwhile, Dr Ramsammy stressed that the government is pleased it has been repaid the money it had loaned the MRL. He noted that the loan was supposed to have been repaid in three months’ time, but that had not been done, hence the government had to seek redress from the MRL in court.

He explained that the MRL had two mills, one each at Black Bush Polder and at Essequibo, and those were given to government as collateral for the MRL loan. The government therefore had an option of taking over the mills, but did not do so because that would have posed some difficulties.
As such, he related, when he became Agriculture Minister, he began negotiations with SeaRice — which according to him is an internationally renowned organisation — for its taking over control of the two MRL operations.

He, however, emphasized that that arrangement was on condition that monies owed to rice farmers and government be repaid.

The minister explained that at the time when the discussion with SeaRice Caribbean Guyana commenced, the debt MRL had owed farmers was more than the $54 million being paid now. He revealed that SeaRice loaned MRL some money to pay some of the farmers, thus reducing that debt to approximately $54 million.

“SeaRice had to work and overcome many difficulties with the owners of MRL before they were able to conclude the arrangement. The initial agreement was for them to pay the farmers and the government off with interest, but the MRL owners wanted to retain management of Black Bush Polder and Essequibo,” he disclosed.

However, given the MRL record of questionable practices, the Government of Guyana was not willing to support that arrangement, but preferred SeaRice to operate the mills at Essequibo and Black Bush Polder, which is now the present arrangement.