Rice farmers land in Pandora's box
Company ordered to deposit $12M with court registry
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News
January 15, 2004
Justice Claudette La Bennett yesterday ruled that Pandora Rice Inc must deposit with the Registrar of the Supreme Court within 24 hours the sum of $12,926,725 which is the total allegedly owed to rice farmers who supplied paddy to the company.
Four hours before the order was handed down in the High Court, farmers picketed the Begonia Avenue, Bel Air home of the Managing Director of the company, Scheherazade Ishoof.
Justice La Bennett made the order yesterday in a court room crowded with anxious rice farmers, who had travelled from as far as Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice. The order states that Pandora Inc must pay the full amount of money owed to each farmer together with $1,300 costs.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday attorney-at-law, Priya Manickchand, who represented the farmers, said they were privy to information that the company had already received payment for over 300,000 tonnes of rice shipped to Jamaica Milling Company.
But Andrew Pollard, one of the lawyers who represented the defendant, argued in court yesterday that the company could not pay the farmers at present because of its financial status.
He said it was not a matter of the company denying the farmers their payments, "the company simply does not have the money."
In an invited comment, Marketing Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Nigel Dharamlall, explained that payment arrangements between Pandora Inc and the Jamaica Milling Company, where it shipped its rice, allowed for the company to make timely payments to the farmers.
Dharamlall stated that within three days of Jamaica Milling receiving shipping documents from Pandora, it makes a 50% payment and the balance was usually paid within three days of the company receiving the rice.
Manickchand who had filed the writ on behalf of the 36 farmers last week said the farmers were very frustrated but would not have taken such action if management of the company was more forthright. She said the farmers had sold , supplied and delivered a colossal amount of paddy between the months of September and October 2003 and up to now they had not received any payments. The attorney said several demands by the farmers for their payments had been to no avail.
Meanwhile, at about 9:30 yesterday morning, backed by Minister of Agriculture, Satyadeow Sawh, and General Secretary of the Rice Producers' Association, Dharamkumar Seeraj, the rice farmers marched, sang, waved placards and chanted in front of the Ishoof's home and office for over two hours.
Ishoof, trading under the name Pandora Inc, has been leasing the government-owned Burma Rice Mill less than a year now.
Pandora took over management of the mill last year March, after government had publicly declared its desire to put it in the hands of private management.
However, because of its performance so far a top government official said the company would not be leased the mill for another year.
Ever since Pandora took over, management has been at odds with farmers who when not protesting slow payments are crying out against "next to nothing" prices for their paddy.
Sawh told reporters on the picket line that Pandora Inc was indebted to the farmers and instead of giving them proper explanations management had been making all sort of excuses.
"We will do everything possible to correct this, these are poor farmers and they must not be treated in this manner," Sawh declared.
Seeraj said in this the International Year of Rice the RPA will do whatever it took to defend farmers.
He told this newspaper that it was not the first time farmers had protested against Pandora Inc. "But they do not have other alternatives, with all those that closed down, the farmers are more or less compelled to sell their paddy to Pandora Inc."
"There are several farmers right here who did not have a good and decent Christmas. Just like any other person farmers have families and other commitments."
According to Seeraj as a result of them not receiving their payments, some of the farmers have been not been able to service their crops, while others were forced to take loans so as to continue their business.
Asked whether the situation was the same with other millers, Seeraj said while some millers were not up to standard their performances were far better than Pandora Inc's. "But it is hoped that this new monitoring unit which was set up will look into all these matters so that both the farmers and millers can benefit."
Stabroek News was told that farmers were owed sums between $2.1 million and $87,000.