Attorney objects to Assessment Committee members

Hope rice farmers land woes

Attorney Anil Nandlall representing the dozens of rice farmers at the Hope Estate, who are being taken to court by Government for failing to pay a unilateral increase in land rents, has objected to the composition of the Rice Assessment Committee was has been established to resolve the matter.
Under the Rice Farmers (Security of Tenure) Act, all issues in relation to the recovery or rent of rice lands are governed by the Act which provides for a Rice Assessment Committee to be the tribunal which determines all issues relating to rice lands. The Act also outlines how the Committee should be constituted and the qualifications of those appointed as members of the Committee. These appointments are made by the Agriculture Minister.
As such, when the farmers appeared before the Rice Assessment Committee at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court on Friday, Attorney Nandlall raised a number of preliminary legal objections on the Committee’s composition.
“I objected to the composition of the Committee on the grounds that the persons who constitute the Committee do not possess the qualifications as prescribed by the Act,” Nandlall, a former Attorney General, explained.
Nevertheless, he was ordered by the Chairman of the Committee, Attorney Yoganand Persaud, to put his objections into writing and have it delivered to the Committee.
The matters have since been adjourned to October 4, for continuation.
Earlier this year, the Government had given notice of its intention to repossess land being leased by a number of these farmers at Hope Estate, ECD, for falling behind in their rent last year. In 2015, the farmers were paying $3000 per acre but in the ensuing years, the rents were increased to some $15,000 per acre. The farmers have since been complaining of the burdensome hikes, saying that it will be hard to pay.
In a letter seen by Guyana Times, farmers were instructed by Attorney and Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) Chairman Omadatt Chandan to “quit and deliver possession” of their land. But these requests resulted in the farmers and their legal representatives taking a stand.
In one case, Khemchan Sukhlall, a tenant of De Hoop, Mahaica, was ordered to hand over 16 acres of rice land situated at Nooten Zuil… all within one month of receiving the notice. The notice, dated January 16, 2018, was signed by Chandan who identified himself as an agent of Hope Estate Coconut Industries Ltd.
Back then, Nandlall, who had visited several of the farmers alongside fellow Member of Parliament Dharamkumar Seeraj, had issued a warning to the Agriculture Ministry via letter; stating that the farmers are protected by the Rice Farmers (Security of Tenure) Act. Section Five (1, d) stipulates that a notice to eviction cannot be issued outside what the Act permits.
Nandlall had informed the Ministry that he instructed the farmers to ignore the notice since the law gives them a regime of security of tenure. He had informed the Ministry that its letter is not only premature and precipitous, but it flies in the face of the Act.
“In short, rents chargeable for rice lands cannot be increased and a tenant of rice lands cannot be removed from possession except by the procedures outlined by the Act. We are not aware that any such procedures have been initiated or undertaken,” Nandlall stated.
Nandlall further explained to Guyana Times that these farmers have been in possession of their land for several years. These lands, he noted, provide the only source of livelihood for them and their families.
The Government last month had issue summons for a total of 32 rice farmers; however, not all of them were served. At Friday’s court session, only 12 of the rice farmers appeared before the Committee.
In 2016, the Government in a well touted deal had arranged to export rice to Mexico. The Agriculture Ministry subsequently disclosed that 17,000 tonnes of paddy were shipped to Mexico in a deal said to be worth some US$17 million (GY$3 billion), and 43,000 tonnes more will be shipped to the Central American country over the next few months.
However, the days of farmers getting premium rates for their paddy crops have since passed, following the end of the PetroCaribe (rice for oil) deal which was cancelled by Venezuela in 2015. Under that arrangement, farmers accrued some $9000 per bag of paddy, but this has been reduced to between $1800 and $2500, depending on location.