Dear Editor,
President Granger’s administration needs to take measures to alleviate the plight of the rice farmers to save the rice industry. Paddy and rice prices have been collapsing resulting in huge losses to farmers. In short, it does not pay to grow rice anymore, and the government needs to take action to help the farmers. The low price for paddy and rice as a result of lack of markets has been caused by the recent developments in the controversy with Vene-zuela. It is obvious to people in rural areas and the farming communities in particular that we are neglected. For years, we have been shouting very loudly for Georgetown to hear us or to begin noticing us. The situation in the rural areas needing attention in order to grow rice and other crops will affect the whole country, not just the farming communities.
The time for regret is past, and putting aside the promises made by the coalition parties about rice prices in order to get elected, it is now time for action. And the farming country looks to the President for action. He has an opportunity to make his administration look competent (he said we bought more than competence with the recent 50% increase in salary). It is not enough to say or give the impression that he is looking into the problem, or is seeking other markets for rice. We are not like the patient with a headache; we are like the victim of a labaria bite and he is supposed to be the attending doctor. While I am on that examination table, I do not want to hear that he is looking into it; I want to hear that he has used the anti-venom, the tourniquet, bled the wound and sucked out what was there. The rice producers in this country want to know that President Granger is making rice markets a priority and that he has committed to helping them. Find the markets!
This surely did not seem that way when the rice farmers, in trying to be heard in Georgetown, held their pickets four weeks ago. The problems today are so much worse than they were when my parents farmed the soil. I was in Black Bush Polder just a few months ago and I saw first-hand how the farmers were being treated today. The farmer does his job of praying, flooding the fields, planting, tending, harvesting and hoping. He finally goes to the miller who is not ready for him. I saw truck after truck waiting in line at the mill to take the paddy. If the rain falls, and the tarpaulin does not cover the paddy properly, all labour can be lost. When the miller is finally ready, he declares the rice “substandard” and cuts the price by 20%. Today, the millers rate everyone’s paddy as substandard. After the miller processes the paddy, he gives the farmer a part of the money to be paid for the rice and he has to wait for the remainder till the miller gets his money from his buyer. There were instances where the miller still owed the farmers for rice milled more than two years ago. This situation results in the miller getting an interest-free loan at the farmer’s expense. And the miller holds a monopoly over the farmer as the rice cannot be processed elsewhere ‒ a situation which prevails all over the country.
Now four weeks ago the President told farmers on the picket line to go back and talk to the millers. He indicated that the government was not getting involved. That is not an acceptable answer to the national crisis facing farmers. Is that how much care and love he has for farmers?
Need I remind him that he was elected to help and protect all of us? He has to do a better job than at present. He should make this his priority and act urgently.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Sandhu
