| – Presidential Advisor By Kiana WilburgThere’s still time to save the rice industry from possible collapse in the wake of Venezuela’s sudden halting of the rice for oil barter agreement under the PetroCaribe deal.This is the view of Presidential Advisor on Sustainable Development, Dr. Clive Thomas, who believes that this can be done through diplomacy and support from the international community.Dr. Thomas said that there is no doubt that while Venezuela would have communicated to the past administration that such a decision was looming, the timeliness of it cannot be seen as anything other than an economic sanction.Venezuela’s decision regarding the rice deal comes at a time where it is claiming sovereignty over Guyana’s waters since the significant oil find by American oil giant, Exxon Mobil just 100 miles off the Stabroek Block.Despite Venezuela’s decision, the Presidential Advisor said that Guyana should not feel cowed into submission.“Regardless of Venezuela’s decision to not renew the rice for oil barter arrangement under the PetroCaribe deal, Guyana should not feel as though it needs to tread softly with the Spanish speaking country. We must hold firm to our principles. We should not feel cowed into silence because of this economic sanction by Venezuela. To do so would be a sad mistake. We can’t afford to play politics with our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”It was only June 14, last,http://www.theworldsoccersshop.com/Argentina-Facundo-Roncaglia-Jersey.html, that the Presidential Advisor predicted that, like the ailing sugar industry, the thriving rice industry could be sitting on another economic time bomb.He had said that certain factors affecting the rice sector leave it poised for a dispiriting future.“The ticking time-bomb that rice is perched” on is due to explosive growth of output, increasing difficulty in finding lucrative markets and the level of unit production costs.The economist noted that rice output has risen by more than 100,000 tonnes annually since 2012. He said that much of this expansion has been fuelled by Government support to both supply (production) and demand (finding lucrative markets).He had said, “As is common knowledge, the Venezuelan market is at great risk generating a potential demand/ supply market imbalance. This imbalance risks a collapse of rice and paddy prices later this year, thereby impairing livelihoods, in contrast to what prevailed in the first half of the 2010s.”The economist opined that should Guyana fail to deal with the aforementioned factors with great haste, then the sustainability of the rice industry could prove to give the new government, a similar kind of hell it is facing in trying to nurse the ailing sugar industry back to good health.Finance Minister,Cheap Baltimore Orioles Jerseys, Winston Jordan, had said that he agrees implicitly with the comments of the Presidential Advisor, noting that farmers for some time have been responding to Venezuela’s “concessionary price” and will have to adjust to suit new times ahead.“The Venezuelan market is one that you wouldn’t normally find out there. The country was taking practically 30 to 35 percent of our rice exports. Our rice farmers will have to prepare themselves to operate in a regular market very soon. What they were getting was what is called an artificial market price from Venezuela, a price that is concessionary, a price that in reality, it would be extremely hard to get on the world market.“And what you find is that a lot of rice farmers may have taken loans and ploughed almost all their resources into the rice sector because of this agreement they were benefitting from. That will now have to change. They will have to change their production to meet the world market quota,” the Finance Minister had explained.It is less than a month since the prediction made by the economist and it is already coming to past.During his interview he said, “There are some predictions I make which I don’t like but I knew it was going to take place. But not too long after it is already here upon Guyana. But the big question that is before us is where do we go from here? Well,Cheap NFL Jerseys, it starts by intensifying our efforts to have second frontiers for cheaper sources of oil and markets that will take our rice at good prices.”The Presidential Advisor added,Cheap Arizona Cardinals Hoodies, “But first of all, I think we have to recognize that we are in a crisis. One of the difficulties or biggest mistakes governments tend to make is that when they are faced with serious conditions such as this one, they are overly optimistic about getting out of them and so what I hope is for people to acknowledge that what we have before us is a grave problem.”Dr. Thomas who is currently a member of the Commission of Inquiry into the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) opined,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, too, that the “economic time bonds upon which sugar and rice are perched on can derail all of our expectations for economic growth.”“But we have no choice but to put all our energies behind getting out of these problems or it can mean hell for all of us.”The economist said that he does not believe that there is a long and sustainable future of producing raw sugar in Guyana and will recommend to President David Granger and the rest of his team on ways to finding means of livelihood for the people who are engaged in the sugar industry.Taking his attention back to the rice industry, Dr. Thomas said,Kyrie Irving Jersey, “The time bomb has not exploded as yet” but until that time, there will be effects on those who are dependent on the sector.“Additionally, I am not surprised that Venezuela made this decision. I gather that it has been in the works before but I am convinced that it has come because of the discovery of oil by the American company, Exxon Mobil. Already, we are seeing the evils the possibility of oil wealth can bring. But Venezuela is flexing its muscles with this decision,” Dr. Thomas said.He added, “I don’t think many countries would support the unilateral expansion of that zone in the way Venezuela is attacking it. I don’t think Brazil or Colombia would be it and Caricom shouldn’t be happy even though they took their own time about expressing their concern.” |
