Ali vows to resuscitate E’bo rice industry

Jan 25, 2019 News

Presidential Candidate of People’s Progressive Party Civic [PPP/C], Irfan Ali met with supporters in Region Two [Pomeroon/Supenaam] yesterday, in anticipation of what may be an early election in March.
Ali, who was elected presidential candidate of the party just weeks ago, remains confident that victory will be secured, as he met with scores of supporters yesterday for a community meeting in Anna Regina.
Since rice is of particular interest to most persons on the Essequibo Coast, it was no surprise that it was at the forefront of discussions yesterday afternoon. Among the issues raised was the huge sum of outstanding money owed to farmers by rice millers for paddy.
One rice farmer who was present at the meeting yesterday stood up and voiced his complaint saying, “One million dollar in all me get for two crop money… this is all I get for tw

PPP’s Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali (third from left) meeting with supporters during a community meeting on the Essequibo Coast yesterday

o crops rice from the miller. As a farmer I am suffering at this time to run two crops in succession. When you go to buy the fertilizer you gotta lef it, because the cost plenty. In a desperate bid for intervention, the farmer told Ali who was seated at the head table, “At this time see how ayo can help out.”
Since quite a number of farmers are owed by millers, acquiring finance to continue in the industry is often a challenge for most – especially those who borrowed money from various lending institutions. Ali, who reflected on the PPP/C time in government told supporters yesterday, “Many times when the farmers had to get pay the PPP government would’ve advanced resources so that they would get payment and then we would wait for the money to come back then. We must not forget, we dealt with this issue before.”
Ali however accused the government of being responsible for the industry’s failure in Region Two, noting that the administration “added VAT to pesticides, fertilizers and a number of input that is necessary for the rice industry.”

A number of farmers related to this publication that the cost of production has risen in the industry. They are claiming that over the past months the price for fuel, fertilizers, pesticides and seed paddy have all risen, making it difficult to stay afloat in the industry.
The presidential candidate in giving his response yesterday said, “We had created an environment… one of the things that the PPP was going after was what you call bulk purchasing using the Rice Producers’ Association. If an individual farmer has to buy 10 bags of fertilizer and you have an organization that can buy 10,000 bags, the 10,000 bags can come in cheaper so that it can go back to the farmers at a cheaper rate.”
Ali in conclusion said that his government will look at initiatives and plans that will reduce the input cost for farmers.