Despite strong objections from the Alliance For Change (AFC), the National Assembly on Thursday evening passed amendments to the Rice Factories Act – a move described by government members as an effort to safeguard the interests of rice farmers.
The debate was confined to government members and the AFC, since GAP/ROAR MP Everall Franklin did not speak on the bill and the PNCR-1G MPs boycotted the sitting entirely.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, while piloting the Rice Factories (Amendment) Bill 2009 through the National Assembly, emphasized that the bill was intended to benefit farmers and pointed out that it took into consideration the role that the government should play in a free market system. He said while the government is committed to a free market, it looked at ways they could implement regulations that could protect those entities and persons that were most vulnerable.
Speaking about the rice industry, the minister said that while the sector has grown over the years, certain challenges still remain. He said that many times in the struggles of the industry it was the hard-working farmers that suffered the most. Persaud said that the first objective of the amendments is to ensure that farmers are paid in a timely manner. When the amendments are enacted millers will have to pay farmers 50 per cent of the value of the sale within two weeks of the purchase and the other half within 42 days.
The amendments also ensure that for a miller to be granted a licence this person must not owe any individual farmer more than five per cent of the value of the paddy supplied unless otherwise approved by the board, the minister stated. He said that previously the criterion was that a miller must not owe more than five per cent of the entire value of the paddy supplied. Persaud explained that this often allowed many millers to get away without paying several small farmers and that the new amendments will curtail this practice.
AFC MP Khemraj Ramjattan criticized the actions of the government even as he argued that they were failing to deal with the real issues facing the rice industry. He declared that this was an attempt to give the farmers the impression that the government had their interest at heart.
Ramjattan said instead of penalizing the millers, the government should look at what was preventing them from having money. According to him, this would indicate the absence of markets for the millers to sell their products to. The millers will find a way to get around this new obstacle, he also contended.
Ramjattan argued that the government should try to improve the quality of its rice so that other countries would purchase it. He also suggested that the country should make use of its Caricom connections to ensure that markets are found. He added that the country should seek through the Caribbean Court of Justice to (CCJ) a ruling that will force territories in the region to fulfil their treaty obligations as it related to conducting trade with Guyana.
The AFC MP further stated that the government’s intervention was devastating socially and economically to the free market. He said that although he was a believer in judicious intervention by governments, this legislation was “injudicious intervention into the free market concerning the rice industry.” He opined that “an unrestrained government intervention into any ministry is worse than…the unregulated market.”
According to Ramjattan, the bill also removes the ability of millers to move to the courts to seek redress. He suggested to the minister that the government remove export commissions on rice as well as implement other measures to solve the problems facing the rice industry. He commended the government for the $400 million stimulus package that it offered to the industry and said that such moves were more in keeping with what was necessary to solve some of the problems in the sector.
Widespread consultations
Government member Dharamkumar Seeraj, who is also the General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), pointed out that the bill was presented to the House after widespread consultations with farmers and millers.
He said that the “bill had the blessings of both the farming and milling communities.” According to him, during consultations most millers said that they normally pay farmers before 42 days. Seeraj said the majority of millers paid farmers within a reasonable time and this was just a means of ensuring that the few defaulters follow suit.
Seeraj contended that in reality the much vaunted “free market isn’t really free” since it is controlled by some individuals. He said often millers come together in a cartel arrangement thus influencing the prices farmers charge for their paddy. “We have to legislate to protect our farmers,” he said.
PPP/C MP Mohamed Khan argued that farmers needed to be rewarded for their efforts and that it was the duty of governments to protect them. Khan, who said that he has been a farmer for 45 years, opined that the legislation is ensuring that “farmers are not taken advantage of”.
In wrapping up the debate on the bill, Persaud rebuffed several of the arguments put forward by the AFC MP. He said that contrary to what Ramjattan was saying, Guyana’s rice was of a high quality. He also said that the government was working hard to find new markets for Guyana’s rice and stated that discussions are taking place with Cuba at the moment.
Persaud further stated that contrary to what Ramjattan was arguing the millers can seek redress through the courts.
Meanwhile, the debate on the Maritime Zones Bill 2009, which was also scheduled for Thursday’s sitting, was deferred.
