The Rice Crisis Committee (RCC) wants an explanation from the government on why it is not prepared to assist the entire industry in its recovery.

In a brief verbal statement to Stabroek News on Wednesday, the committee expressed alarm over reports in the media that only farmers with loans to the banking sector under $10 million would benefit from the package being negotiated between the government and the banking sector.

"What we are wondering is what is the President's problem with our presentation. We need him to tell us what is wrong with the presentation and how we can change it to ensure help for the industry," the RCC said.

The RCC said efforts had been made in the past several weeks to arrange a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo to discuss the issue but to no avail.

The RCC had proposed that the banks write off $5 billion in interest, $3 billion in principle on the $12 billion debt overhang on the rice sector. In return, the government would grant the banks a tax credit on the $6 billion in provisions amounting to $2.7 billion to facilitate this and allow a waiver of $2.2 billion in taxes on interest payable on the restructured debt. This would mean a tax waiver from the government amounting to $4.9 billion over the period of restructuring.

This proposal, if it was approved, would have allowed the rice industry to get back on its feet to meet the ongoing challenges of globalisation and securing much needed markets.

However, President Jagdeo has confirmed that the government is looking to help small farmers. In that proposal, as Stabroek News understands it, the government is willing to waive a total of $3 billion in taxes but this would only assist the small farmers.

The concern of the rice committee is that if the large players are not helped who will secure markets for the rice being produced by the small farmers.

Observers have pointed out that Guyana has not had a track record of political stability and as such it would be difficult to attract investors in the medium term. This means that the local private sector has to be relied upon to take the initiative to ensure that the productive capacity of the country is achieved.

However, it has been noted that if the government adopted the approach of only helping small farmers, it would kill the private initiative, which was so vital to move Guyana forward. The issue of a package to rescue the rice industry, a major foreign exchange earner for Guyana, has been on the table for over a year now with no meaningful package announced by the government to date except for a restructuring of loans for some players after the El Nino crisis some years ago.