GRDB, Agriculture Ministry to formally respond; as millers, farmers still owed

Payments from 2014 Panama rice deal

Almost four years after Guyana had inked a deal with the Government of Panama for 5000 tonnes of rice to be shipped there on a monthly basis, many millers are still encountering extensive delays in receiving payments.
This, in turn, is adversely affecting farmers across the country, who have said that their ability to sustain their livelihood as rice producers is under threat.

For well over a year, many millers have been calling on the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to ensure that they are paid, given that the Agriculture Ministry’s sub-agency facilitates the payment process. While the state body is not disclosing its official position on the matter, GRDB’s head, Nizam Hassan, has been quoted as saying that it is the Panamanian buyers who owe the millers.
Guyana Times could not get an update on these matters, since Hassan has not been entertaining calls from this paper. Millers allege that Hassan has been reportedly telling them that he has to check with Agriculture Minister Noel Holder about their payments.
Efforts to contact subject minister Noel Holder on Sunday afternoon were unsuccessful, with all calls being forwarded to a voicemail service.
However, Guyana Times was able to contact those directly affected by the industry’s challenges. They related that the situation remains unchanged. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one miller told this newspaper that he recently received 5 percent of the monies that were owed to him, and he is hoping the GRDB can ensure that he is paid in full.
Other millers, in updated this publication, disclosed that they also are awaiting their funds. They note that non-payment is affecting their business operations.

Aside from the prevailing economic challenges, another underlying issue is the social impact non-payment is having, as many of the millers’ paddy suppliers are their neighbours, friends and relatives.
“When you meet up with these people — some of them you family and all — you hiding from them. Millers don’t want owe the farmers, we want to pay the people,” a popular Essequibo miller disclosed on Sunday.
Guyana Times understands that many of the industry’s members have abandoned the 2014 Panama-Guyana arrangement after the GRDB began demurring with payments. Sources indicate that millers have secured private deals through the Mexican market; and according to reports, one ship recently sailed to that North American country with rice, and another is reportedly on its way.
However, it is from these very deals that many farmers felt they could be paid, thus questioning why millers are reluctant to hand over payments.
In fact, an Essequibo source explained that smaller vessels are currently transporting rice products to a ship destined for Mexico.
Meanwhile, millers have observed that they are constantly probing GRDB on their Panama payments. Guyana Times had in February reported that millers were owed since 2015. At the time of signing the five-year agreement with Panama in 2014, the Agriculture Ministry had said that through the Private Sector agreement between the two Governments, Panamanians would be assured of having access to rice at an affordable price.
Guyana Rice Millers Association (GRMA) Head, Leekha Rambrich, observed earlier this year that GRDB is accessing the money from buyers, thus it has an obligation to pay millers.
“GRDB signed a contract with Panama to supply this rice, and not the millers. And GRDB is responsible for paying the millers. So that question has to be referred right back to him (Hassan),” Rambrich made this statement in February 2018. However, at that time, the GRDB head was not taking calls from Guyana Times, despite the Agriculture Minister saying on numerous occasions that the various sub-agencies have “instructions” to respond to queries.
The Rice Producers Associations’ latest estimate is that GRDB owes millers in excess of $2 billion dating back to 2017.
Guyana exported some 540,000 tonnes of rice for 2017, which saw it highest numbers since 2015, when 535,000 tonnes were recorded. However, farmers have seen reduced earnings for their paddy with the loss of the PetroCaribe rice deal, which was cancelled by Venezuela in 2015. (Shemuel Fanfair)