Outstanding rent due by farmers to Hope Estate

Mar 24, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
There are three (3) categories of farmers at Hope Estate. In the first category are those farmers who willingly pay their rent to Hope Estate without a fuss. The second category consists of farmers who would rant and rave but eventually will settle their outstanding arrears. And in the third category are those farmers who deliberately do not make any effort to pay their rents to the Estate.
As of January 2017, of the 237 farmers who are all tenants of Hope Estate 103 farmers owed the estate $3.8 million. Management has since sent out three (3) notices to these farmers to pay their outstanding arrears or make suitable arrangement with the Management of Hope Estate to address this issue. To date 35 farmers have paid, leaving 65 farmers who are still to honour their financial obligation with the Estate. These defaulters have until the end of March 2017 to do as outlined in the third and final notice.
Many of the defaulters, I must say, owed rents as far back as 2009 (8 years). At a recently held meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and farmers of Hope Estate, the Minister clearly stated that:
1. The yearly government subvention given to Hope Estate will soon be a thing of the past. This is the last year Hope Estate will be receiving a subvention.
2. He emphasized strongly, that Hope Estate must be managed as a business and be able to sustain itself.
3. He also stressed that farmers who are cultivating crops on access dams should discontinue this practice immediately.
Farmers must understand that they are tenants and not owners of the land. Those farmers who have chosen not to pay will most likely face legal action that is swift and decisive. The Estate is currently looking for land to re-establish coconut cultivation. Therefore, any plot of land that is reclaimed by the Estate will most likely be used for coconut cultivation or some other developmental project as the Estate sees fit.
In order to ensure that the Estate does not collapse and becomes a “mini Guysuco” which can be a burden to the state and by extension taxpayers of this country, the income stream of Hope Estate will definitely have to be strengthened to ensure its sustainability and development which will be beneficial to both farmers and our agricultural sector as a whole. As the deadline approaches for those farmers who are indebted to the Estate, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to them to come into the office and make suitable arrangements to address this issue. I now await directives from the newly appointed Board of Directors of Hope Estate and Honourable Minister of Agriculture on the way forward.
Ricky Roopchand, General Manager

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