Re-think selling rice to Europe- RPA President

Oct 07, 2009 News

By Brushell Blackman

President of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Leeka Rambrich’, is calling on the relevant authorities in the rice industry to rethink doing business with Europe.
According to Rambrich, selling rice to that block is not a wise move since other markets can be procured to ensure value for money. It is with this in mind that he is urging the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to desist from signing a contract to the tune of US$355 per metric ton with European businesses. He argues that the price is grossly unprofitable.
Rambrich said there must be a change of mindset that Europe is the only place that can buy Guyana’s rice.
He said that it is because of this that buyers from that part of the world make all sorts of audacious proposals and think that they can get away with it. He believes the imminent deal with Venezuela is a timely one, and the fact that the Spanish speaking country will purchase cargo rice from Guyana at US$420 per metric tonne as opposed to US$355 from the Europeans is a sign that there are other possibilities.
Rambrich, a rice farmer himself, believes that more markets can be sourced from non-traditional areas. He said that shortly Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud will be visiting a number of countries in an effort to secure deals that will lift the industry from its current crisis.
He noted Haiti’s willingness to purchase more than 40,000 tonnes of rice from Guyana, and Colombia as another possible market. And all these countries are ready to buy Guyana’s rice at US$420 per metric tonne, Rambrich said.
With these developments Rambrich is calling for a body to be set up to market Guyana’s rice so that the present developments can be augmented.
He believes that if this is done the rice industry will fare better than it is doing. Noting that the marketing is a sore point in the rice industry, Rambrich is calling for more aggressive steps to be taken to mitigate the current problems the industry is experiencing.
At a farmers’ meeting in Region Three earlier this month, RPA’s Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj lamented the sad state of the marketing aspect of the industry.
He said that many millers are unwilling to market their rice.
They are sitting back and accepting any price thrust at them.
He called on them to be proactive if they are going to aid in a meaningful way in assisting the industry to combat the many obstacles that are affecting its development.
While the President and the Secretary of the RPA are claiming that contracts have not been signed for this crop, Jinah Rahaman of the Rice Producers Association Action Committee is claiming that contacts have indeed been signed.
The outspoken Rahaman took the RPA Secretary Seeraj to task claiming that the latter does not have the interest of the industry at heart. According to Rahaman, the secretary does not depend on the industry for his wages and believes Seeraj should be removed as the Secretary from that institution.
He questioned how a member of the government can function as the head of an autonomous agency, giving rise to a conflict of interest.
Rahaman opined that it will be difficult for such a person to provide effective leadership to the institution.
“He will be unable to take bold steps against the government”.

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Re-think selling rice to Europe- RPA President

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