Close checks on rice mills under way
-- in wake of amended Rice Factories Act
Guyana Chronicle
February 25, 2007
THE Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is checking rice mills in Regions Four (Demerara/Mahaica) and Five (Mahaica/Berbice) in relation to the requirements of the recently amended Rice Factories Act.
A source at the GRDB said export licences are to be renewed next month and the general aim is to ensure that millers are complying with the physical requirements of the Act as well as those stipulated in relation to payments for paddy bought from farmers.
The source said the relatively intense scrutiny of the rice milling operations occurs against the backdrop of changes in the Rice Factory Act to protect farmers from lengthy delays in getting payments for paddy sold to some millers.
Physical factory requirements include sanitation in and around the mills, occupational health and safety measures in place, the working condition of scales and laboratory equipment, and waste disposal facilities.
The payment requirements which are new stipulate that millers ought to have paid off a minimum of 95% owed to any farmer for paddy bought the last and/or previous crops. They are required to display documentation to confirm that they are not heavily indebted to any farmer.
They also are required to have contract documentation in hand in which they agree to pay interest on any amount owed to farmers for any period exceeding forty two days after purchase.
The interest rate chargeable after such delays in payments is 2% over the interest rates charged by commercial banks, the source said.
Their failure to meet the inspection requirements can result in non-renewal of their licences to operate.
Mr. Bissasar Chintamani, Regional Supervisor for Extension and Quality Control for GRDB in Region Five, said the inspections are done against a checklist and it is the board that will decide whether the particular mill is to be granted a renewal or not.
The staffers aim at completing these inspections by the end of this month so that the GRDB can make such decisions from March 1, he said.
The Rice factories (Amendment) Bill which was passed by the National Assembly in January last, addressed the persistent problem of delayed payments to rice farmers by millers.
The amendment makes it mandatory that millers pay 95% of outstanding purchases at the end of the year before their licences are renewed or risk non-renewals. (CLIFFORD STANLEY)