Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has issued a stern warning to Mahaicony Rice Limited (MRL), saying that he will not tolerate the company failing to pay rice farmers promptly.
“Millers must pay our farmers. The issue with MRL continues to be a pestering problem,” Ramsammy said on Friday during a press briefing. “I do not expect that as Minister of Agriculture I will continue to have to deal with the uneasy task of dealing with businessmen who do not pay our farmers.”
Singling out MRL for special mention, Ramsammy said: “I have a special message for MRL and (CEO) Mr Jai Beni… too many farmers are not being paid for paddy and rice that they taken from these farmers. I will be an impatient minister when it comes to the payment of our farmers.” He further warned: “I want to say to the rice millers and others, who have taken the paddy from the rice farmers, pay the rice farmers. You cannot use the rice farmers as your bankers… it is unethical, it is immoral and it is under the law illegal to use the rice farmers as your bankers.” He said he hoped this practice ends in 2012.
Ramsammy also promised to work with the Rice Producers Association (RPA) and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to protect farmers and said that they would revoke licences where necessary.
In lauding the efforts of the rice farmers, Ramsammy said that in spite of challenges with the weather, farmers in regions 2, 3, 5 and 6 have persisted and have managed to bring most of the land in these areas under cultivation. He added that the ministry has been working to ensure that these farmers had adequate irrigation resources.
Meanwhile, Ramsammy said that the government continues to push its ‘Grow More Food’ campaign and noted that last year there was an increase in the export of fresh vegetables. According to him, at the end of November, a total of 10,700 tonnes of fresh and processed food had been exported to markets in Caricom and North America, which was up from the 9,600 tonnes exported for the same period last year. Of the amount exported this year, some 3,200 was exported to Caricom, while the remaining 7,500 tonnes was exported primarily to North America, the minister declared. Most of the exports were sent by sea, he added.
Ramsammy noted too that some exporters have been collecting crops from farmers and not paying them promptly. He said that the ministry would not be encouraging this practice.
