| …this is an act of bad faith – Minister PersaudBy Tusika Martin Jamaica will indeed not be able to purchase its full 60,000 tonnes quota of rice from Guyana this year because that country’s local market has been satisfied.This is according to Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda, who yesterday told Kaieteur News that the country has already imported 35,000 tonnes of rice from Guyana and will not be purchasing anymore for the year.Minister Robert Persaud Speaking with Kaieteur News from Kingston, Jamaica yesterday, Samuda said that his country would be unable to purchase the full quota from Guyana this year.This, he said, is not because of any unwillingness to purchase rice from Guyana but because Jamaica has already met its local need for the commodity.At present, Jamaica has only purchased just over half of the amount it had committed to purchasing from Guyana annually.“From January to March, we imported 22,000 tonnes of rice from the United States by agreement. After that, we imported 35,Jerseys NBA Cheap China,000 tonnes from Guyana. When you add the two together one can see that we met the amount needed,” Samuda told Kaieteur News.The importation of rice from the United States, he said, was done because of Guyana’s difficulties to supply that country during the first three months of the year.This claim has been disputed by local rice exporters, who pointed out that Jamaicans were not buying large amounts earlier in the year, as they were refusing to pay the price being demanded.“The bottom line is that we are not reluctant to purchase rice from Guyana…Guyana is a preferred market. I can assure that next year we will indeed purchase the full amount from Guyana,Air Max 95 Sale,” Samuda told this newspaper.Jamaica’s inability to purchase Guyana’s rice first surfaced on Wednesday when the ‘Jamaican Gleaner’ reported Samuda saying that the country ‘will not be able to purchase some 32,000 tonnes of rice that the Guyanese government has set aside for the country.’When contacted yesterday, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, who is currently in Canada, said that he has since dispatched an e-mail to Minister Samuda seeking clarification on the media report about Jamaica’s inability to honour a commitment to purchase 60,000 tonnes per annum.He told Kaieteur News that he also requested clarification on Jamaica’s position on rice trade with Guyana.According to Persaud, if what is related by the media is true, then it represents an act of bad faith.Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Trade, Dr Henry Jeffrey,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, however, seems to be out of the loop on the rice issue as he told the local media yesterday that Minister Samuda was misinterpreted by the Jamaican press.“I spoke with Minister Samuda today (yesterday) and he said that he was misinterpreted and that is not what he intended to say,” Jeffrey said.According to Jeffrey, during bilateral discourses with Jamaica on the rice issue earlier in the year, it was decided that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) should be signed to concrete that country’s rice purchase commitment.Jamaica Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce However, that agreement is yet to be concluded since Minister Samuda does not have the legal jurisdiction to give such a guarantee.Jeffrey told the media yesterday that Samuda told him that his Attorney General Justice department has indicated that the rice importation issue is a ‘private sector business’ and that he (Samuda) has no authority whatsoever to guarantee anything.As such, Samuda has since presented Guyana with a ‘Best Endeavour’ agreement,Jerseys Cheap, which states that he will do all in his power to ensure that the full quota is imported.However, up to yesterday, Guyana did not sign the agreement, which, according to Jeffrey, is still under contemplation.Jamaica has organized the Jamaican Commodity Trading Corporation but this is yet to be operational.When asked about possible markets should Jamaica decide not to buy Guyana’s rice, Jeffrey said, “should that country or any other country decide that they are not going to buy anything from Guyana, then we will have to go and find other market. That’s the name of the game.”The Guyana Rice Development Board,Discount NFL Jerseys, he added,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, is also seeking new and lucrative market for the commodity.“I don’t think that market is so much of a ‘big thing’ at this stage in terms of agricultural products but I think we need to secure and keep the CARICOM markets because they are markets that we can depend on,” Jeffrey said.Early in the year, Jamaica had applied for the suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on rice for a six-month period.However, Guyana objected to the request on the basis of its ability and readiness to supply the quantities required by Jamaica.Last year, Jamaica bought over 51,000 tonnes of rice from Guyana. |
