Skeldon farmers request Gov’t aid ahead of cane cultivation

– Agi. Minister promises D&I assistance

Skeldon cane farmers have called on the Government of Guyana to assist them with much needed financing to restart cane cultivation.
During a meeting at Skeldon, East Berbice-Corentyne (Region Six) on Saturday, farmers told Agriculture Minister, Zulficar Mustapha that they are financially constrained and are in dire need of assistance.

Many of the farmers told the Minister who was accompanied by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Sasenarine Singh and Director General, Ministry of Agriculture, Mandanlall Ramraj, that they had secured loans from commercial banks but have been unable to repay because of the closure of the estates. As a result, they cannot access new loans to start cultivation.

“We don’t have funds to go back to the cane field, we took large loans from the bank and we failed to make payment to the bank so we cannot approach them again for anything. So, if it’s possible, we would like to have some grant from the government so that we can resuscitate our farm and that’s our main issue; we need some concession,” said Anand Singh a farmer representing the Corentyne Gold Inc.

Similarly, George Baijnauth, a private cane farmer, said while GuySuCo required the 33 per cent contribution from the farmers, loans were needed from the bank in order to prepare for the cultivation of sugar canes.

“When we approached the bank, we were refused loans and so the tripartite agreement came into being where GuySuCo had to guarantee farmers loans. Many of us took the loan but eventually the factory failed and GuySuCo failed which led to us failing. In our business proposal we were promised 10 tons of cane for a ton of sugar and we ended up with 20-40 tons of cane for a ton of sugar,” the farmer said while adding that farmers have been subsidizing GuySuCo for years. This he said, has resulted in the farmers not having the requisite finance to restart cultivation.

The farmer pleaded with the Minister to have GuySuCo honour the tripartite agreement which would in effect allow farmers to access loans from the banks. He explained that by way of the agreement, GuySuCo is responsible for paying the banks the money borrowed and the farmers are required to repay GuySuCo. Baijnauth said should they [farmers] default on payment to the corporation, the lands they worked on would be taken over by GuySuCo.
Village Voice understands that farmers were given a three-year period to repay their loans but many of them have been unable to fulfil that obligation.
The farmers reminded that in April 2011, former President Bharrat Jagdeo had promised to waive corporate tax on loans for cane farmers but that promise never materialized.

“As farmers we need guarantee to start back, so that not in a couple years we will be left on our own. We’ve had our hands burnt and they were burnt severely. Some farmers up to this day are to some extent hiding from the banks, the bank is after them for payment and it is unfair to the farmers that GUYSUCO agreed all the loans and then left us in the middle”, Baijnauth said demanding assurance that the sugar estates would not be closed again.
In response, the Agriculture Minister said, the Irfaan-Ali led Government intends to fulfil its promise of removing corporate tax from loans. But noted that the Government is not in a position to assist the farmers with money. He said other forms of support will be offered.
“We can’t just take out cash and give farmers, we need to do things that will benefit all the farmers and as such we must be practical with what we are doing. We have to do actual work then we will gradually move up,” the Minister said.

He continued: “I agree that you need assistance…we will do D&I [drainage and irrigation] work to benefit all the farmers. We will ensure that the canals and dams are okay. We will look at concessions as much as possible.”

The Minister, assuring that the estates will remain open, told the farmers that his task is the ensure there is a “break-even point” before talk of profitability.