Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter written by one Leroy Charles. I have a few very burning questions/problems about its contents:
1. Is it true that the contractor AJM is getting duty-free concessions to bring in the necessary machinery to do these conversions, but is charging an alleged 1.4 million per acre as claimed by Mr. Charles?
2. Is it also true that these machines are then being used to do roadwork without ever having paid the necessary duties? Giving this contractor an unfair advantage when bidding against others who are paying duties etc. for their machines?
3. Is the contractor aware what land preparation he is doing? That is, he is converting Dutch beds to board English beds? Notwithstanding that that sort of conversion was what destroyed LBI and Enmore Estates?
4. I saw pictures on Facebook, put there by the president himself, of land preparation using road graders and not laser levelers which is the sort of conversion GuySuCo must employ to succeed.
Every proper rice farmer in Guyana uses lasers to level their lands to optimize their yields, but GuySuCo, despite glaring past evidence against such a layout for mechanical harvesting, is continuing with; and are converting land from one layout to another without first levelling and grading to make sure that water can drain from those fields to allow mechanical harvesting.
Sincerely,
Tony Vieira
