Several Region 2 rice farmers still owed for paddy

4 months later

– threaten legal action

Following the dramatic scenes that unfolded outside the gate of the Hack Rice Mill in Golden Fleece, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) in late December 2018 when over 300 rice farmers demanded their payments, many producers remain unpaid for as many as four months.  Guyana Times  was told on Saturday that the frustrated farmers will be exploring legal actions if the situation remains unchanged.
The farmers said that they were told that they would be paid sometime this month. An industry insider familiar with the matter noted that the proprietor was reportedly waiting on a cheque from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRBD) to issue the payments. This newspaper made several attempts to contact the proprietor of Hack Rice Mill, on Saturday but the calls to his mobile number went unanswered.
According to the farmers, the miller had purchased paddy since September 2018, but they had to mount their protest action last month since multiple attempts to garner the attention of senior management for their payments were futile.
Management had eventually met with farmers and reportedly agreed to give them payments between $50,000 to $100,000 until full payments were available, but this was two weeks ago.
The farmers had also said that they have their monthly bank installments to meet and the cash given to them in some cases could not have met the required payment.
A mother, who had joined the protest had said that it was not easy for her, especially to finance her children’s education, which she said is a very expensive exercise. She had noted that one was at one at Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), one is at the University of Guyana, and the other is writing CSEC exams next year. Some of the other women who were also on the protest line had said that they are single parents and are depending only on their little earnings from the rice industry for their survival.