Dear Editor,
The RPA Action Committee published an ad on page 5 in Sunday Stabroek of May 17, 2009 captioned ‘Rice Farmers Livelihood in Danger/Demands of Rice Farmers of Guyana.’ In this timely ad one of their demands reads:
“We demand the urgent replacement of the current Minister of Agriculture due to incompetence and lack of knowledge of the rice industry and agriculture, in general.” This statement of non- performance and lack of appropriate skills could be justifiably expanded to include forestry and related matters such as forest conservation, carbon credits, deforestation and the role of forests in mitigating global warming and climate change. Almost single-handedly the Minister is dismantling the 100-year-old forestry sector by arbitrary, slothful and imprudent acts that betray his lack of knowledge and understanding of the timber industry in general and how large timber companies operate in particular.
The livelihoods not only of rice farmers but also of forest concession employees are in danger. Sugar workers too are under direct attack and Guysuco no longer has the workforce to do the day-to-day jobs of husbandry and cane-cutting at a reasonable cost which the industry needs to keep it viable. It is therefore no surprise that last year Guysuco made a staggering $6.3B loss. That is over $ 8,000 for every man, woman, child and baby in Guyana.
Indeed, sustainably managing Guyana’s resources, be it agriculture in the form of rice and sugar, or forests at the highest level, requires a Gavin Kennard. It is not a propaganda dalliance or as simple as milking cows.
Yours faithfully,
F. Hamley Case
