We should stand together to demand our basic human and Indigenous right

Dear Editor, We are all aware of the various issues affecting us in Region 9 in our daily lives. It is no secret that we are experiencing a lack of proper planning by the authorities who were mandated to assist the residents of this region to achieve a better living standard. Yet we seem to be helpless and under the spell of their power.

In 1991, we had a road that we were happy about, a road that we used; after 20 years this same road is using us. After two decades the support for quality education is sadly lacking; ask the teachers and they will tell you. In these enlightened days we do not have a proper flow of information or a proper communication system. Over twenty years ago we enjoyed listening to news on GBC, and heard cricket loud and clear. We cannot even listen to or see national television; we are more aware of what is happening in Russia, the Middle East or China via BBC or CNN through private means. It is a design to keep most of the interior people from knowing the truth of what is happening to our country.

We had access to agricultural support, be it livestock or crops. We enjoyed security and there was respect for each other. Our neighbours flocked the Lethem hospital for a quality health service. There were bigger aircraft taking out beef and peanuts to the coast. There was a better distribution and management system in place for a power supply. Villages had a better cooperative system – their way of life. The regional authority was respected and many more

activities were of a better standard – but that was over twenty years ago.

Recently our capital, Lethem, has been thrown into more hardship. Within just a few months payment for a kw/ h has risen from 55$ to 75$ and now to 100$ per kw/ h when our neighbours pay 28$ per kwh. What was the satisfaction offered by the government? You have to pay!

Brazil was a huge supporter of the regional economy; now because of the hike in electricity rates the small businesses are forced to look elsewhere. This is all because we allow individuals who do not even live here to bully us into accepting their disrespect. All they care for is the votes not our needs. We need to stand together as one to demand what is our basic human and Indigenous right.

We need Moco Moco and Nappi hydro to become a reality; we need wind, biogas and solar power. We can develop cottage industries based on the capacity of individual communities. We need to have village accounts audited so we can determine whether we are in the green and not in the red. We need a strong regional administration to assist in making proper decisions. We need a useful advisory group to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, so that proper planning for the Amerindian Development Fund could be made, not to be wasted.

I am aware of the efforts that the Regional Chairman has been making to design a plan for a facelift for Lethem, for the airport, for farming, for hydropower, and for better relationships with Bon Fim but without support from his superiors it is an uphill battle. Even the other regional councillors are aware of this situation.

At the moment minibuses and lorries are struggling through the mud to Lethem. We live it, we feel it, so we should ask ourselves the question why we should be treated this way when the majority supported this uncaring government for over 22 years. Is there a way out? Oh yes! We do have the answer and that is the combination of ÀPNU/ AFC at the helm of this country. This is a group that has representation from all across the country. This will allow the opportunity for all to bring back some decency to society. Remember this country is for all Guyanese and not only for a few greedy ones. We, APNU/ AFC have visited communities where we have seen water looking like blood coming through the pipes; plantains going into Mabaruma, when this area used to once flood the market in GT and even in Trinidad. Incomplete roads in the communities on the coast, housing, lighting and many more issues were brought to our attention. We deal with the reality of life in Guyana. Only a selected few are flourishing through the suffering of the majority.

I am aware that many Indigenous peoples across the nation are questioning why the Amerindian Act, 2006, was unable to defend our brothers and sisters in Upper Mazaruni, Region 1, Region 8, and Region 9. When will it end?

We should waste no more time and make a change. With our decision Region 9 will be able to support our other Amerindian communities to settle all Amerindian land claims. Yours faithfully, Yours faithfully, Sydney Allicock Friday July 4, but no one came. One would have expected the Regional Chairman who is the de facto political leader and had been elected or selected by the PPP/ C on account of that party having won the regional election in Region Two in 2011, to have some sense of obligation to his constituents and come out to listen to our concerns and relay same to the Minister of Agriculture and the President. Instead he came briefly to say that he was not invited. We are left to conclude that the Chairman only responds when he is invited. This is the calibre of officials we have to deal with since we started to agitate for better conditions in the rice industry.

When no one came to address our concerns on July 4, chaos ensued. The government was guilty of neglecting the cries of the farmers and they felt they had to do something to get its attention, hence the burning of tyres.

Sadly the Minister of Agriculture had the audacity to use the term “politically motivated” to describe their actions. The Minister is aware that the issue of delayed payment is not the only problem facing farmers. His talk of a “technical team” to investigate and 15 legitimate farmers to work with him to solve the problems in the industry is testimony to that fact. It is time the Minister woke up from his slumber and did what is correct. It is time to listen to the cries of farmers!

His failure to meet with us in a meaningful way serves only to heighten our suspicions of collusion in the industry. Our requests are plain and simple and will resonate with our fellow Guyanese of all walks of life. The GRDB exists because of the rice farmers in Guyana; as a result it is bizarre that we have no say in the decision- making process of the GRDB. We are convinced that the politicians and technocrats on the board of directors of the GRDB do not have our interests at heart.

From the inception of the PetroCaribe deal with Venezuela, cheap urea fertilizer was part of the deal. That did not materialize until the beginning of this year. Lo and behold! When the GRDB/ RPA brought the fertilizer at $ 5000 per bag the business houses were selling it at $ 5300. It boggles the mind to imagine what profit they were making selling at $ 7000 per bag.

When we had lost our preferential market for rice to Europe via the OCT route, the Europeans had given the government a grant of ten million euros to offset the shock that would have resulted from the loss of that market. The GRDB/ RPA without any consultation with farmers thought that the best thing to do was to give out a bonus of $ 5000 per acre to those who planted that crop. The result was chaos and confusion. Some people who never planted rice got monies while some legitimate farmers got nothing.

So toothless is the GRDB that the basic weight of a bag of paddy sold by farmers to millers was 140lbs; an additional 3lbs was added on to offset the weight of the jute bag that was to transport the paddy. Now we are harvesting in bulk and the GRDB simply lacks the will to retract the 3lbs arrangement, or else chooses to collude with the millers against the farmers to take 3lbs of the paddy per bag before they plant their crop.

We demand to have three farmers who are not millers on the board of directors of GRDB, so that we can have eyes and ears there and input into the decisionmaking of the industry. We believe that it is the role of a caring government to level the playing field in the industry by means of rules, regulations and investment, so that the forces of production can co- exist in harmony to produce wealth and prosperity for all the stakeholders.

We want the government to set aside a revolving fund of about $ 15 billion to lend to millers at a rate of 2% to pay farmers promptly for their paddy and change the rice regulations to facilitate same. Their mills or factories should be used as collateral to access this facility and after six years the interest rate should be increased to 6% so as to wean them off this fund. This fund would be a solid investment earning dividends for the state, and on the social side it will improve the life of thousands of rice farmers in Guyana. It would be quite unlike dumping $ 6 billion a year on GuySuCo.

We understand that such a fund would create a conflict of interest with the banking sector. In banking parlance ‘ time is money.’ We borrow at 18% from the banking sector to produce the raw material ( paddy) that the millers need to do business, and when the milers take 3 months to pay us after purchasing our paddy we have to pay for 3 months extra interest at 18%.

On Sunday July 13, 2014 the President and his ‘ team’ visited the Essequibo Coast. The President spoke for a long time on the abortion of Amaila, the AML bill and that some time ago before 1992, rats were eating a child’s hand at the Georgetown Public Hospital. When it was time for him to respond to our concerns, all he basically said was that we should work together to move the industry forward and thanked us for coming out on a Sunday. This is the kind of scant attention farmers get for burning tyres on the road to indicate to him that they have concerns.

While I was there I did not hear of anything being handed out on the proverbial platter to rice farmers or anyone else there with a problem. The next time I hear of a presidential “outreach” in Essequibo, I shall impose a restraining order on myself not to come within one mile of the drama.

The Minister of Agriculture in his presentation to the gathering said that there had been talk of a revolving fund for the industry. This is the most confusing statement of the decade. He then went on to say that they have been lending millers money to pay farmers at their own ( government) risk. I figure that he was trying to tell us we should be grateful for that!

The government is lending money to millers at its own risk because the revolving fund that the Minister speaks of is nonexistent or poorly orchestrated; sadly it only seems to revolve when farmers burn tyres on the road. The revolving fund that we speak of must be well organised.

Government’s continued refusal to see the merits of such a fund could only be based on the presumption that farmers