Rice farmers whose names had been published in the press due to outstanding debts with the MMA/ADA are being allowed to pay 30% of the amount and to enter into a phased payment plan.
The farmers, who faced repossession, would be making “part” payment to the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) starting this week. However, these options were only made available to “legitimate farmers” who cultivate their own land and not those who are subletting. “Any farmer who is planting the land [himself] and cannot pay in full” would not face repossession, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said at a meeting on Sunday at the Bush Lot Secondary School.
Persaud, who had listened to the farmers’ concerns, assured them that the exercise was not to “displace” them. Instead, he said, it would bring order and ensure that the land is properly utilized. The minister said some farmers charge as much as $15,000 to rent their land while the MMA rate is $1,500 per acre. The exercise also aimed at providing opportunities for youth and single mothers to motivate them to become involved in agriculture, as well as to “landless farmers.”
The minister pointed out that from a total of 35,000 acres of land in the MMA area 24,000 acres are being rented to other farmers. “The farmers were given land to take care of their economic needs; they were not given land to become landlords or to sublet; that is not the arrangement,” the minister said. The “lease states clearly that subletting is not allowed but yet the statistics revealed that close to 60% to 70% of MMA scheme is under subletting. It is a violation of the objective of the MMA scheme. The scheme was not developed for people to live all over the world and in Georgetown and want to rent land in Region Five,” he added.
Some farmers told the minister that they were willing to pay their rates but found it difficult to acquire the money because the MMA had failed to provide proper drainage and irrigation (D&I) and access to their land. They said this situation has caused them a lot of losses and they appealed to him for more time to pay the dues.
In response, MMA General Manager Aubrey Charles said it maintains all the primary channels. He said too the MMA did not get payments from farmers and as such could not provide service. Charges for the secondary drainage were waived a few years ago for farmers to do their own maintenance but they have failed to do so and as such the MMA is providing assistance. Reiterating that farmers have been subletting their land, Charles mentioned the Number Eight Co-op as an example. He said the co-op owes the MMA almost $6M for 15 years for services it had provided.
Meanwhile, Persaud acknowledged that some farmers have suffered losses but also said that their rates had been waived. He said the outstanding rates that have been accumulated do not include the “bad areas.” He said despite suffering losses, many farmers would like to re-cultivate their land and on a wider scale but he pointed out that “the increasing demand would put additional pressure on the MMA scheme” as it would require additional D&I and other services. The minister said government is prepared to ensure that the demand is met but the said the services would require a substantial amount of resources and it is hoped that farmers would honour their obligations to pay He said too that the MMA was supposed to collect $94M for services but last year it “barely collected $30M notwithstanding that they had to spend close to $103M.”
In the interim, the ministry would be setting up a commission of review to deal with land matters such as: current land use, specify who the occupants are and to recommend various strategies and proposals about how to better manage the land aspect of the MMA scheme. Commissioner of Lands and Surveys Andrew Bishop is expected to chair the commission which will include members of the Rice Producers Association and a representative from the region and other persons.
