The Guyana Rice Develop-ment Board (GRDB) has been advised by Venezuela that the shipping schedule for rice and paddy is under revision and this has left over 270 containers in limbo at the wharves here.
Stabroek News spoke yesterday with Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge who stated that he was not aware of any formal communication on behalf of the Venezuelan government to Guyana that the Rice Agreement had ended prematurely.
He said that today a clearer understanding of what the issue is will be gleaned while stating that the Rice Agreement will need to be reviewed. He gave no indication that any alarms had been raised in relation to a premature ending of the annual Rice Agreement, which is slated for completion in November.
Deputy General Secre-tary of the GRDB Ricky Ramraj told Stabroek News yesterday that it was communicated by their Venezuelan counterparts that all shipments of rice and paddy currently on the water will be cleared once they arrive. As for the remaining 270 containers that were being loaded in Georgetown for shipping they would have to wait on the schedule revision.
He said that this has never happened before, calling the issue “unusual”, but noted that there is currently over 6,000 tonnes of rice and paddy en route to Venezuela which will be cleared.
Ramraj said that under the Rice Agreement, worth US$120M that was signed in March, 24,000 tonnes of white rice and 90,000 tonnes of paddy are outstanding. For the year, Guyana has already exported 30,000 tonnes of paddy and 40,000 tonnes of white rice.
The GRDB has inform-ed the Minister of Agricul-ture of the correspondence. Speaking to the Stabroek News yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder said that contact with the Venezuelan government has not occurred as yet to understand the gravity of the situation.
The Minister stated that the issue was in the hands of the foreign ministry. He added that the government has been unable to make contact with Guyana’s embassy in Venezuela and the Venezuelan Embassy in Guyana has not issued any statement on the matter.
Last week Finance Minister, Winston Jordan disclosed that since 2014 Venezuela was signalling that there would be no additional arrangements under the PetroCaribe fund and that the annual rice barter agreement would conclude in November.
Jordan downplayed the impact of the ongoing row between Guyana and Venezuela over the latter’s maritime decree saying that Caracas’s intentions to discontinue the annual agreement had already been communicated to the previous administration.
“They were signalling since last year that there will be no more rice, no new agreements after this one,” he said.
Jordan said “we knew before we left there were indications that they didn’t want any more rice. We knew that …they had told the previous government that before on numerous occasions. When I arrived there the ambassador indicated to me `well you know things are going to be difficult because they were saying they don’t want any more rice from Guyana’” he said, while adding that “they then relented and said they may take a little small amount to keep as buffer stocks.”
While he was critical of the PPP/C administration’s lack of disclosure, Jordan and a team from the Guyana Rice Development Board were in Venezuela for the 15th Meeting of the Energy Ministerial Council of PetroCaribe and took over a week to notify the public of the new development.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo on his Facebook page on Wednes-day stated that “Venezue-la’s position of the non-renewal of the PetroCaribe barter agreement is indeed an act of economic sanction against Guyana.”
In a response, the PPP said “What the de facto Prime Minister does not want to admit is that the non-renewal of the rice Agreement has nothing to do with the PPP/C, and perhaps even with rice, but with the rapid deterioration of relations between Guyana and Venezuela since the Granger administration assumed office”.
Meanwhile, as they head into the second crop rice farmers are worried over the impact a non-renewal of the annual agreement may mean for the industry as the arrangement comprises roughly 30 percent of rice exports in an ever growing industry.
Essequibo rice farmers have called for an urgent meeting with the Agriculture Minister to discuss the way forward including the ministry’s strategy to assist with finding other export markets to sustain the industry.
The first crop produced over 360,000 tonnes of rice. Last year Guyana produced over 635,000 tonnes.
