Georgetown: The Ministry of Agriculture refutes claims made by Turhen Doerga of Ruimzeight Rice Processors Inc. who during a Press Conference earlier today made allegations against the Ministry of Agriculture and officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
We would like to state openly that at no time was Mr. Doerga escorted by security out of the meeting which saw farmers and millers having consensus on the current rice crop and prices.During the meeting, Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy in relation to complains of low prices being paid to farmers for paddy by some millers; announced that based on the Rice Factories Act, GRDB will proceed to audit the books of rice millers. Such a move by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), will bring closure to the perception that millers are not making huge profits. This move didn’t go down well with some Millers including Mr. Doerga who interjected. During the discussion, the allocation of quotas for the Venezuela market was also addressed. It was pointed out that this quota allocation was discussed with the Millers Association on several occasions. Mr. Doerga then refuted that claim that a Millers Association exist even after several of his colleague Millers clarified that they are indeed a part of the Millers Association who meet often. A comment was also made by an official of the GRDB adding weight that the Association does exist. Mr Doerga then accused the official of being in partnership with the Association and involved in bias distribution of quota with the Millers Association. Mr. Doerga was then ask to issue an apology for the misleading statement of which he refused and continued to behave in a disorderly manner. He was then asked to leave the meeting after he became very confrontational and threw papers (which are believed to be emails) in the face of the Minister. After repeated request from several millers including Nazeemul Hakh of Golden Fleece Rice Investment, Mr. Doerga left the meeting but not before threatening to go to the Opposition. At today’s Press Conference, Mr. Doerga was quota as saying that the Rice Industry is in dire need of help as it remains in a crisis. The Ministry of Agriculture would like to state that while there are challenges; works are moving apace to overcome them.
However, while Mr. Doerga is of the view that the industry is in trouble, the Rice Sector for the first time in Guyana’s history recorded in excess of 500,000 tonnes of rice. This year, GRDB is moving to exceed this production target. In 2013, GRDB exported approximately 400,000 tonnes of rice and this year based on exports done thus far and current contracts, the industry is set to export 500,000 tonnes. The success of the Rice Industry is always based on the sectors ability to export to new markets such as Panama, Nicaragua, Belize and increase sales to traditional markets such as Haiti, Venezuela, EU, and CARCIOM. The Ministry of Agriculture strongly condemns the derogatory manner displayed by Mr. Doerga and hopes such incident becomes an isolated one as the Ministry continues to work with farmers and millers to ensure the success of the Industry.
