RICE farmers who were recipients of dishonoured cheques from Ancient County Investment Inc., at Tarlogie Farm, Corentyne, Berbice, had them honoured yesterday.

General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, said the delinquent miller has promised to make additional payments, this week, to those farmers.
Some $300M was owed to planters supplying the mill and over the weekend dozens of them protested at the Ancient County Investment Inc. base, complaining that the cheques issued by the company had “bounced” when presented at the bank.
The protesting farmers were even more peeved when they were told that the company will not be conducting business that day and, therefore, they could not meet with any of its representatives.
According to the RPA Genera Secretary, legal action, initially scheduled for yesterday, will still proceed.
“We are currently still compiling the relevant documentation,” he said.
Seeraj made it clear that the persisting problem with rice farmers payment will not be tolerated.
In the past years, Mahaicony Rice Limited (MRL) was the main delinquent with millions owed to farmers and he said the recommendation for that company to be blacklisted in relation to supplying rice to fill Guyana’s export quota to Venezuela, will be maintained with the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
As at December 18, all rice farmers were expected to be paid off principal amounts, leaving only the matter of interest on outstanding sums to be addressed.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Chronicle, in Monday’s issue, reported that the RPA credited $167M as a loan to Ancient County Investment Inc. The monies were, in fact, not lent but owed to the company after it had supplied rice to fill Guyana’s export quota to Venezuela. The monies were held back, a common practice, until confirmation that its supplies had met the export specifications.