The New Guyana Marketing Corporation should arrange a debate on the GMFC

Oct 30, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
I feel compelled to respond to a letter written by one Sherry James and published in Kaieteur News (Monday 25th October, 2010), under the caption, “Mr. Cordis mistaken about the GMFC”.
I am happy that James agrees with most of the observations that I have made.
(1) The new Guyana Marketing Corporation is one of several agencies that has to ensure the success of the Grow More Food Campaign (GMFC) and of such its Genera Manager should not be the person to pronounce on the success of the campaign.
(2) The success of the GMFC should be determine by the consumers, mainly house wives.
(3) That the prices of most of the staple food have gone up significantly after the campaign had started.
As regards the price the farmers are receiving now, these prices can be said to be reasonable and not lucrative, and theses prices are available because of the decline in production caused by various factors.
If the primary objective of the GMFC were to have quality food available to the consumers at a cheaper or reasonable price, then the lucrative prices that she mentioned should not be used as a yardstick to measure how successful the campaign is, as in my opinion both the producer and the consumer interests must be taken into account.
The housewives shopping at the markets have reduced by half, because of the prices when it should have been the other way around.
I mentioned in my letter that decades ago the leader of this Nation, the late Forbes Burnham had preached to the nation to feed clothes and house ourselves by using as far as possible what we produce, and we must produce or perish. If James sees this as politicking then she would have to deal with that. Maybe she wants me to rewrite history.
I will inform James by writing another piece on production and marketing of the produce mentioned in my earlier letter later.
It is important to let Sherry James and our readers know that I have been a farmer the better part of three decades and most of the farmers in Region Two, that is Pomeroon Supenaam and Region Three West Demerara and Essequibo Island who produce plantains, eddoes, cassava, pumpkins and water melons know me, because we meet on a regular basis at Parika, the largest wholesale and retail market in the country, where we offer our produce to several huskers and also do retail sales at other markets like, Supenaam, Suddie and Anna Regina.
And while I do not want to sound like I am blowing my own trumpet, in 1996, I was adjudged the best other crop farmer in the country by the Ministry of Agriculture and again in 2001, I was awarded by the Institute of Private Enterprise Development for having the best managed farming project.
My address is lot 54 Aurora Villlage, Essequibo Coast and my telephone number is listed, I hope I can meet Sherry James, who claims to be a farmer also, so we can share our experience, thoughts and ideas as it relates to other crop farming, it might even be a good idea if the New Guyana Marketing Corporation can arrange a public debate on the Grow More Food Campaign and have James and myself make contributions, this discussion can also be used to promote the campaign, which all Guyanese should support and I have been doing for most of my life.
Archie W. Cordis

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The New Guyana Marketing Corporation should arrange a debate on the GMFC

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