Mr. Persaud should have known how the NCFC functions

Nov 08, 2014 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Please permit me space to respond to Mr. Nowrang Persaud’s letter dated October 30, 2014, captioned “Is this another symptom of debility in the sugar industry”.
Firstly, Mr. Persaud, himself being a cane farmer for 20 odd years, and former GuySuCo Human Resource Director, should have known how the NCFC functions, and of the benefits farmers are receiving.
Mr. Persaud for your information kindly note the following:-
1. Presently NCFC has a revolving fund to assist small farmers.
2. Farmers (you included) benefited from a 50% reduction in the cost of their fertilizer, which was negotiated for by NCFC.
3. Your canes are harvested by the Estate, supplied with fertilizer from the Estate, and applied by the Estate labourers, your farmlands are also tilled and planted by the Estate as you required. Therefore, I was mortified at the sentiments you expressed and captioned “Is this another symptom of debility in the sugar industry” when you were invited to the meeting and chose to remain silent when requested to make a contribution.
4. Your claim that you made “repeated attempts to get some clarification from the Chairman of the NCFC were fruitless” is baseless, because you were advised to refer to the NCFC Act, Chapter 69:04, and to the Estate’s Liaison Committee for clarification of your issues.
5. You acknowledged your attendance at the NCFC meeting over which I presided, and could have gotten any information you desired. I repeatedly enquired from you for any comment, clarification or issues you may encounter that required to be addressed by the committee, to which you replied “no” in the presence of all the members and other cane farmers who attended.
6. The seventeen (17) issues listed on the action sheet, were issues highlighted at the previous NCFC meeting, which are summaries for members of the committee to address, give updates and clarifications at that meeting on the progress of work.
7. You mentioned farmers’ diminishing output, discontinuation, selling off, etc.; you are probably speaking on your own behalf, because more lands were leased by the Government to farmers at Wales, Uitvlugt, Albion, and Skeldon locations.
Finally, I will continue to ensure that you receive a copy of the NCFC minutes, to keep you informed on what the NCFC is achieving.
Mr. Persaud it seems like you have just awakened from a deep slumber, because you mentioned that you have attended occasional meetings of which you don’t even know the name – those are the Cane Farmers Liaison Committee meetings, from which farmers were elected to represent their colleagues from that location. You stopped attending those meetings claiming that they are a waste of your precious time; now you seem to have renewed interest.
Mr. Persaud, you were surprised by the preponderance of “officials”. Kindly do us a favour and familiarize yourself with the NCFC Act, Chapter 69:04. And just in case you still do not get it, those ex-officios (as you called them) are there for a special purpose (apart from abiding with the Act) – to assist, and guide farmers accordingly, by firstly making themselves all available in one room with the farmers, for the farmers.
Roy Hanoman
Chairman
National Cane Farming Committee (NCFC)

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