Irregularities occur only at small rice mills
-say two leading millers
Stabroek News
April 25, 2004
Officials of two of the country's leading rice mills said the findings of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) with regard to irregularities at some mills are only applicable to small millers.
The officials' comments came one day after GNBS Director Chatterpaul Ramcharran made known the findings of a recent survey which had been conducted at rice mills across the country. Ramcharran reported that there had been complaints from farmers about some millers short-changing them in terms of weights and grades for paddy purchased. The farmers had claimed, he said, that some millers tampered with scales to understate the net weight of the paddy contained in trucks and trailers.
According to Ramcharran, some farmers admitted knowing that they were being robbed of as many as 10-20 bags of paddy on average, per load of paddy sold. They thought that they were treated with little respect by millers who had a "take-it or leave-it" attitude regarding the price they offered for paddy.
Speaking to this newspaper last week, Anil Singh, Manager of Fairfield Rice Inc, located at Mahaicony, said the operations at their mill were above board, adding that the farmers themselves had testified to this.
Singh told Stabroek News that two weeks ago inspectors from GNBS visited and checked their scales, and also had discussions with Managing Director Peter deGroot. He asserted that their systems were very transparent, noting that during the inspectors' visits their electronic scale had been certified by the bureau which had not found any fault at the factory.
Singh also gave the assurance that their weights were up to Guyana Rice Development Board Standard and so was their moisture-testing equipment. He said at the moment the factory did not have a dockage machine, but systems were in place to ensure that farmers were not short-changed.
Ramcharran had mentioned in his report that there had been complaints that some millers had been tampering with the dockage to overstate the weight of extraneous materials such as straw and chaff, which were mixed with the good paddy grains. This, according to the report, could account for approximately 15-25 lbs per bag.
Singh admitted that there were a few millers who were guilty of this, most of them small operators. He said that because of the small scale of their operations some of these persons were almost constrained to short-change farmers so as to compete with the other millers. He said he welcomed the GNBS intervention, and pledged to support the organisation and rigidly enforce all of the requirements at his mill.
Asked about his payment plan, Singh said farmers usually got paid on time as agreed with management. He mentioned that farmers would be paid 50% of their money at the time of supply, and the other half four weeks later.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Alesie Group of Companies, Turhane Doerga, a leading rice miller in the country, recalled the GNBS inspectors conducting tests on his factory's scales and weights during their survey. He said that the inspectors had conducted a thorough investigation, and all of his equipment was in order.
With regard to dockage, Doerga said he had a machine for this. He noted that samples were usually taken out in the presence of the farmers, while grading of their paddy was also done when they were there. Doerga told this newspaper that his factory had a licence and a certified grader, and that all of his scales were fully electronic.
Doerga also said he welcomed GNBS' actions, noting that the larger millers were usually subjected to unfair competition from the small millers, who sometimes did not comply with the rice industry's regulations. Doerga said too that he supported GNBS because it was another way of ensuring that Guyana's rice did not lose its reputation on the international market. Doerga said the rice industry was slowly rising again, but he agreed that corrupt millers and farmers could impede progress.
"I am sure that the findings of the GNBS would mostly apply to the small millers; they are the ones who have to do these things. They can't compete for quality with larger millers, and in order for them to be competitive, in some way they have to cut corners," Doerga said.
The Alesie CEO also complained that the lack of a functioning rice millers' association was contributing to some of the problems in the industry. He observed that the farmers were well represented by the Rice Producers Association, but there was hardly any representation for millers. Asked what had caused the collapse of the association, Doerga said it had been hijacked by a few millers who had ulterior motives. He noted that although several efforts had been made to get the association going again, there had been no progress. Several efforts to contact Beni Sankar, an executive member of the current Guyana Rice Millers Association proved futile.
Nandram Basdeo of Raghubar Rice Industries, of Corentyne, East Berbice confirmed that the bureau had visited their mill during the survey. Basdeo said the inspectors had found no fault at the mill, adding that they had a digital scale which had been verified by the GNBS and their stamp later placed on it.
Basdeo declared that the mill was not involved in any corrupt practice, adding that they had a realistic payment plan, among other things. He said too their grader had been licensed by the Guyana Rice Development Board.