-following intervention by Ali, says Mustapha
After six years, 19 rice millers yesterday received the $1.5 billion owed to them by the Panamanian government for the delivery of 9,000 tonnes of rice following interventions by President Irfaan Ali, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha disclosed.
“After years of not going anywhere and they were going to institute arbitration, President Ali met with the Panamanian President… we got up all the info… and here we received the first tranche two months ago and then the rest. So it was due to that intervention,” the agriculture minister told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.
In a press release yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the payout stating that 19 rice millers had received a total of $1.5 billion, in the form of cheques, owed to them by the Panamanian government and that Mustapha had handed those out.