–plans to write Minister Mustapha

SEVERAL rice farmers residing in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region are still patiently waiting on millers to honour outstanding payments for paddy supplied to them over a five-year period.

The outstanding sum amounts to millions of dollars, and to date, the farmers have received no positive word as to when they will be paid.This situation recently caught the attention of regional officials, who, on Friday, convened an emergency meeting to address the matter.

The Regional Democratic Council (RDC) officials, including the Regional Chairperson, Vilma De Silva; Regional Vice-Chairman, Humace Oodit, and Regional Executive Officer (REO), Devanand Ramdatt, agreed, during a multi-stakeholder meeting that a letter will soon be dispatched to Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, with the aim of bringing relief to the affected farmers.

Addressing the multi-stakeholder meeting which included rice farmers and members of the Water Users Association (WUA), Ramdatt said that rice farmers within the region are suffering too long due to non payment of money owed to them. He disclosed that two prominent millers operating in the region owe the farmers millions of dollars.

Ramdatt reminded the gathering that rice cultivation is the main economic activity in the region and as such, the farmers’ rights need to be represented.The REO pointed out that some millers were left in a position where they could not have paid rice farmers since they are owed by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).

“At this point, the most prudent decision will be to write the minister asking for feedback to see how soon these farmers can be paid,” Ramdatt said.During the meeting, it was revealed by farmers that Wazir Hussain Rice Mill and the Ramlakhan Rice Mill are among those who, allegedly, owe money. One rice farmer related that for the past one and a half years, more than $1.5 million in payments remain outstanding.

Another rice farmer told this publication that he is owed money for approximately three crops. Those paddy sales, he said, amount to about two million dollars. The farmer explained that to re-invest, he had to eventually agree to purchase $600,000 worth of fertilizer from the miller, which was deducted from the amount the miller owed.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that millers would usually purchase rice farmers’ paddy and instead of paying them, they would give them fertilizer in lieu of payments.

The move was deemed as “conning”, according to RDC Councillor and Prime Minister’s representative, Arnold Adams. Adams said that the fertilizer business is another attempt by millers to have their debts deducted.

“This is troubling. Farmers find it difficult to re-invest in the next crop…the millers will usually credit fertilizer to farmers at a higher cost, plus charge interest on the farmers for late payment on the fertilizer… but they don’t pay the farmers interest when they owe the farmers,” Adams emphasised.

This newspaper understands that while Ramlakhan Rice Mills is making payments, they still owe many rice farmers large sums of money from as far back as 2015. The Regional officials have since informed the rice farmers that the RDC will be engaging the Minister of Agriculture on the matter.