Another Govt blunder

– still unclear if it is “real” money

After weeks stonewalling over mounting pressure following his announcement of $23 billion for rice farmers during his

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

maiden 2015 Budget presentation in the National Assembly, Finance Minister Winston Jordan has finally admitted that Government never intended to give rice farmers any money to assist them, while the industry continues to founder in its current crisis. Seeking to set the record straight on Friday, Jordan during an interview with Guyana Times said his announcement of providing $23 billion to the rice industry, is not to pay farmers, but to assist in the shipment of rice to Venezuela. He still did not address the Opposition Leader’s contention that the sum was not “real” nor exactly to which entities the $23B was paid. The sum would represent payment for an entire year’s shipment of 200,000 tonnes of rice to Venezuela. Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had made the shocking disclosure when he rose to debate the Budget, revealing in the process that the $23 billion announced by Jordan was not real or liquid money but just a paper transaction by the Government. When Jordan announced the subsidy for the industry, it appeared that it was going directly to struggling rice farmers. As a result, farmers were ecstatic and overjoyed at the announcement as it meant that they would get assistance during their time of turmoil in paying for their investment in the present crop, from the Government. But Jordan reminded that the new Administration allegedly met an empty PetroCaribe Fund, with a mere $.8 million remaining. He said his portfolio as Finance Minister is to honour all financial agreements, and not to finance the farmers. Government had already said that the rice industry is a private entity and although assistance has been given to the industry, it remained just that. Jordan reiterated that all the monies owed to the farmers have already been paid and that no more money could be paid to them until the next rice shipment. On Friday, close to 400 rice farmers from across the country gathered in front the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of the Presidency, demanding that Government honour its obligation and pay up the $23 billion that was promised to them. From the picket line they also demanded that Government honour its promise of paying $9000 per bag of paddy.  Half of that amount would be acceptable, they said. General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association Dharmkumar Seeraj, who was also at the picketing exercise said the new Administration has duped the hapless farmers. He said his inquiries of Government’s promised $23 billion have come up empty handed as neither the Ministers of Agriculture or Finance, who made the announcement, could give any information. Seeraj said the industry under the current Administration is bound to suffer as no attempt is being made to arrest the situation, which is leaving many farmers in distress. He added that while Government has stepped in for an equally important industry; the mining sector, the same attention should be paid to the rice industry. “Rice over the years has been the largest earner of foreign exchange for this country. It is the best vehicle for rural development… Rice has been pumping up this economy. Now if you are going to turn a blind eye to your largest earner, then you don’t have the interest of the country at heart, if you are going to concentrate on a few miners and leave out your largest foreign exchange earner, you shooting yourself in the foot”. He said right now the only way to address this issue is for Government to find the money that was promised to the farmers. (alexisr@guyanatimesgy.com)After weeks stonewalling over mounting pressure following his announcement of $23 billion for rice farmers during his maiden 2015 Budget presentation in the National Assembly, Finance Minister Winston Jordan has finally admitted that Government never intended to give rice farmers any money to assist them, while the industry continues to founder in its current crisis. Seeking to set the record straight on Friday, Jordan during an interview with Guyana Times said his announcement of providing $23 billion to the rice industry, is not to pay farmers, but to assist in the shipment of rice to Venezuela. He still did not address the Opposition Leader’s contention that the sum was not “real” nor exactly to which entities the $23B was paid. The sum would represent payment for an entire year’s shipment of 200,000 tonnes of rice to Venezuela. Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had made the shocking disclosure when he rose to debate the Budget, revealing in the process that the $23 billion announced by Jordan was not real or liquid money but just a paper transaction by the Government. When Jordan announced the subsidy for the industry, it appeared that it was going directly to struggling rice farmers. As a result, farmers were ecstatic and overjoyed at the announcement as it meant that they would get assistance during their time of turmoil in paying for their investment in the present crop, from the Government. But Jordan reminded that the new Administration allegedly met an empty PetroCaribe Fund, with a mere $.8 million remaining. He said his portfolio as Finance Minister is to honour all financial agreements, and not to finance the farmers. Government had already said that the rice industry is a private entity and although assistance has been given to the industry, it remained just that. Jordan reiterated that all the monies owed to the farmers have already been paid and that no more money could be paid to them until the next rice shipment. On Friday, close to 400 rice farmers from across the country gathered in front the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of the Presidency, demanding that Government honour its obligation and pay up the $23 billion that was promised to them. From the picket line they also demanded that Government honour its promise of paying $9000 per bag of paddy.  Half of that amount would be acceptable, they said. General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association Dharmkumar Seeraj, who was also at the picketing exercise said the new Administration has duped the hapless farmers. He said his inquiries of Government’s promised $23 billion have come up empty handed as neither the Ministers of Agriculture or Finance, who made the announcement, could give any information. Seeraj said the industry under the current Administration is bound to suffer as no attempt is being made to arrest the situation, which is leaving many farmers in distress. He added that while Government has stepped in for an equally important industry; the mining sector, the same attention should be paid to the rice industry. “Rice over the years has been the largest earner of foreign exchange for this country. It is the best vehicle for rural development… Rice has been pumping up this economy. Now if you are going to turn a blind eye to your largest earner, then you don’t have the interest of the country at heart, if you are going to concentrate on a few miners and leave out your largest foreign exchange earner, you shooting yourself in the foot”. He said right now the only way to address this issue is for Government to find the money that was promised to the farmers. (alexisr@guyanatimesgy.com)

Missing $23B Budget “allocation”  for rice sector…

– shocked at silence of Agri Minister

Following Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s admission that the $23 billion was never intended for rice farmers, the Rice Producers Association (RPA) Action Committee comprising Dr Turhane Doerga and Jinnah Rahman , who had staunchly supported the APNU/AFC coalition during the campaign, have responded saying that government’s position is “disappointing”, “devastating” and “confusing”.

Dr Turhane Doerga (left) and Chairman of the Rice Producers’ Action Committee (RPAC) Jinnah Rahman

Following immense pressure from society and the massive protest staged by over 400 rice farmers from across the country for the release of the $23 billion, Jordan finally, in an invited comment to the Guyana Times, said the money does not belong to the rice farmers though during his Budget presentation, even though he had given the impression that the funds would go directly to the struggling farmers.

However, after being silent for so long- allowing the rice farmers to believe that they would finally be relieved, Jordan’s revelation that the money had done towards “shipping rice to Venezuela” has taken by many surprise- including the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change aligned RPA Action Committee.

In an invited comment, Dr Doerga said he is extremely disappointed and devastated to hear about these developments and that it appears that not even Government cares about the future of the rice farmer and the rice industry.

“Apparently it appears that nobody cares what’s going to happen with the rice farmers,” he said.

He alluded to the fact that never in the history of Guyana did such a large number of rice farmers travel all the way to Georgetown to stage a protest; concluding that the situation is clearly in a dreaded state for these farmers to go to this extreme for their voices and struggles to be heard.

“Indian people, their culture is a little bit different, they are ashamed to say that they don’t have money, they are ashamed to say that they owe the bank, they are ashamed to say they already got letters threatening to auction their property. We’re not very vocal people going out there… The amount of rice farmers that came down to protest, never in the history of Guyana was this done in Georgetown…What does that tell you? Never in the history of the rice industry you had so much rice farmers protesting in Georgetown, it tells you the level of misery at this moment,” Dr Doerga reasoned.

He added that it is extremely worrying that even amid everything that is happening, the Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder- who is mandated to be responsible for the rice farmers has remained silent through it all.

“You know what shocks me, is the silence of the Minister of Agriculture and therefore the AFC. It shocks me, I am completely lost. The mere fact that so many people came down tells you how bad it is… What is going to happen to the rice industry?” he pondered.

Similarly, Rahman told this publication that the situation is rather confusing yet not a word is being uttered by the persons in charge.

“They are not explaining things even though they have access the state media and the communication system…They are not explaining to the people…People have questions,” he stated.

Further, he disclosed that he is not even sure where government will be sourcing the $23 billion- which it now claims will be used for “rice shipment”.

“I don’t know where they got this 23B…If they discussed with the farmers or if they consulted anybody like me. We don’t know anything that is going on,” Rahman related.

On Friday, the Finance Minister told this newspaper that his announcement of providing $23 billion to the rice industry is not to pay farmers, but to assist in the shipment of rice to Venezuela. He still did not address the contention that the sum was not “real” nor exactly to which entities the $23B was paid. The sum would represent payment for an entire year’s shipment of 200,000 tonnes of rice to Venezuela.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had made the shocking disclosure when he rose to debate the Budget, revealing in the process that the $23 billion announced by Jordan was not real or liquid money but just a paper transaction by the Government.

In addition to demanding the release of the $23 billion, the rice farmers who had gathered in front the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of the Presidency, also demanded that Government honour its promise of paying $9000 per bag of paddy.

Solution Meanwhile, in hoping to address the issue, Dr Doerga said for his part, there needs to be a more professional Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to look at solutions that need to be acted upon to help the rice industry in its current time of crisis. Moreover, he called for both the government and the opposition to not let their differences cloud their judgment of the real issue and instead of engaging in a back and forth war of words, they should work together to help the rice farmers and save the rice industry.

For Rahman’s part, he said will immediately make contact with the Minister of Finance to get clarity on the issue.

Dear Editor, Make no mistake about it – the rice industry is in crisis. David Granger, Moses Nagamootoo and their Finance and Agriculture Ministers have argued that there is no crisis in the rice industry. But the present unwillingness to assist the industry and the rice farmers is the start of a sad story, a story of the rice industry being positioned to fail. Mark my word, the industry will begin to see an exodus of rice farmers from the fields, like in the 1980s, unless the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) remedies the situation. The rice industry needs the Government’s support now. APNU/AFC needs to prove that the budgeted $23 billion as well as the promised $9000 per bag of paddy isn’t an illusion. The present $1500 to $2200 per bag of paddy being offered to farmers is not acceptable and it is no substitute for the $9000 promised before the elections. The Government needs to make the budgeted $23 billion available to the industry now. For the Finance Minister to say he does not quite understand where the money is in the budget is another voodoo economics ploy. The rice farmers have been abandoned by a Government which pretended to be their friends before the elections. The rice farmers’ votes which were bought by the APNU/AFC were rewarded with betrayal. Now the Government argues that the rice industry is a Private Sector business and that the transactions between millers and farmers are private. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) supported the Private Sector nature of the rice industry, but also embraced the notion that the rice industry is a critical to our development and understood that Government support was an imperative. Rice farmers are generally not rich people. They work hard to make a living. Even more important, the rice farmers have ensured that the rice industry has grown over the years to become one of Guyana’s top GDP earners. The industry is in the top five for GDP contributors and is presently at the top for export earnings. No industry has contributed more to the reduction of poverty and hunger in our country than the rice industry. It is incumbent for the Government of the day to ensure that the rice industry receives maximum support. The rice industry has earned an important place in our social and economic development. It’s not a charity or handout as Keith Scott had called it in during the 2014 budget debate, but out of necessity that the Government must support the industry. Such support is in the social and economic interest of the people of Guyana. The PPP has always supported and catalysed the growth of the rice industry. It was an early Cheddi Jagan-led PPP Government that saw rice reaching 100,000 tonnes production by 1960 and 200,000 tonnes production by 1964. It was under the PPP that exports reached 100,000 tonness by 1964. Before 1992, there was a production of 100,000 tonnes and less than 40,000 tonnes in export. Under the PPP, production surpassed 600,000 tonnes with 500,000 tonnes in export in 2014, a remarkable development story. From a handful of countries in 1990, Guyana was exporting to 33 countries by the end of 2014. Prices for paddy which had been less than US$3 per bag in the early 1990s rose to US$15 and then US$25 per bag by the end of 2014. The People’s National Congress, however, destroyed the booming rice industry it inherited in the 1960s. From record breaking highs in production and export, the industry sunk to record-breaking lows by 1990. In the 1970s and 1980s, the party effectively killed the rice industry which wasn’t mere mismanagement, but a deliberate act to punish rice farmers perceived as supporters of the late Cheddi Jagan and the PPP. The present APNU/AFC non-action in ensuring that all rice farmers are paid for their paddy is not just an oversight; it is very much part of the strategy for rice farmers not to be able to return to production. The harvesting of the second crop for 2015 has already begun. It is expected that more than 500,000 tonnes or the equivalent of eight million bags of paddy will be produced by farmers for the second crop of 2015. Yet farmers are still owed about $1 billion for paddy they sold to millers during the first crop of 2015. During the tenure of the PPP, the Government intervened in every crop and made certain that millers paid the farmers before the next crop started. In some instances, the PPP Government even loaned money to the millers to ensure that the farmers were paid before harvesting of the next crop. This was a proactive support mechanism that nurtured and increased the growth of the rice industry in Guyana. In Opposition, APNU/AFC saw support to the industry ashandouts to rice farmers. It had argued, as Carl Greenidge did, that the industry is a private business and that Government has no business intervening in the transactions between millers and farmers. The PPP believes that support to the industry, including finding markets and ensuring farmers are paid a fair price and receive timely payments, are imperatives for the social and economic development of our country.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy