|
Essequibo rice farmers whose protests have been gaining momentum, continued to decry the price for paddy and other pressing issues. Friday’s protest saw some 70 rice farmers taking to the streets again.Essequibo rice farmers protesting again.The protest took off from the Cotton Field New Market and converged at the Anna Regina High Bridge.President of the Essequibo Paddy Farmers’ Association, Naith Ram,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, said that he continues to lobby on behalf of his fellow farmers for an audience with the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and General Manager of Guyana Rice Development Board, Jagnarine Singh.Ram maintained that unless rice farmers are made aware of what price they would be getting for a bag of paddy, it would not be economically viable to go back into the next crop.He argued that the cost of production is way higher than what farmers are being paid for paddy.“It’s not economically viable and we the rice farmers are feeling the squeeze.”Ram said he would continue to protest unless he sees some drastic improvements in the Rice sector. He said that for years now, millers continue to owe farmers millions of dollars although they would have sold their paddy to them. He is also lobbying for a revision of the Factory Act, which states that millers must pay farmers within 42 days after paddy would have been sold.Ram said that the protest action will continue into the following week.Currently, while rice is been harvested on the Essequibo Coast, some millers are paying $2,700 for paddy.The deal between Venezuela and Guyana has since been signed to allow Venezuela to purchase 25 percent of Guyana’s rice annually. |
|