Hope Estate discontinues legal action against farmers

Rice land woes

The management of the Hope Estate Limited on Thursday withdrew legal proceedings against 18 rice farmers, who were dragged to court by Government for failing to pay a unilateral increase in land rents.

Attorney Anil Nandlall along with the relieved rice farmers from the Hope Estate outside the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court on Thursday

Hope Estate Management, which leased plots of rice lands to farmers at Hope Estate on the East Coast Demerara, is claiming an increase in rent for these lands by some 300 per cent per acre and also seeking to repossess the lands from those farmers in arrears.
The matter was being heard before a Rice Assessment Committee, established by Agriculture Minister Noel Holder as a tribunal in the matter, at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court.
According to lawyer for the rice farmers, Attorney Anil Nandlall, on the last court hearing (October 26) and on Thursday, raised several technical legal objections to the proceedings filed, submitting that the proceedings were incurably bad.
“I requested either that the company withdrew the proceedings, or that the Rice Assessment Committee dismiss them. The company opted to withdraw the proceedings. This has brought nearly two years of legal battle to an end,” Nandlall said.
Nandlall said this decision has brought nearly two years of legal battle to an end and the rice farmers will now be able to return to their normal lives and continue their work.
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 these 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 had stated.
Nandlall further explained to Guyana Times at the time 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.
Meanwhile, Government in August issued a summons for a total of 32 rice farmers however not all of them were served.
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.