PARAMARIBO – About  67 farmers who haven’t received the compensation which other colleagues did in fact get have decided to go to the police to press charges against the government. They explained that they urgently need their money to stay in business.

The rice farmers had organized a rally to compel the government to address their problems and to get the compensation that was promised to them. As a result of this rally the farmers were promised that the ones who had cultivated up to 50 hectares would receive SRD 3,500 per hectare. The farmers who had cultivated between 50 to 100 hectares would receive SRD 3,000 per hectare while those who had cultivated between 100 to 150 hectares would receive SRD 2,500. It was the president who had promised the farmers that they would be compensated for the losses that they suffered during the previous seasons.

Agriculture, Stockbreeding and Fisheries (LVV) Minister Parmanand Sewdien claimed that all of the farmers had received their compensation. But dozens of farmers claimed that the minister had been misinformed and that he was also sharing the wrong information. The farmers will press charges collectively because they did not receive any fertilizer. They complained that the president does not respond to their letters. One of the rice farmers was entitled to receive 36 bags of fertilizer but he only got a voucher for 11 bags. In the end he did not get a single bag of fertilizer. The rice farmers claim that the bags of fertilizer fell of the truck and never ended up where they were supposed to end up. “We can’t talk to the minister of Agriculture because he is corrupt. There is no transparency regarding the distribution of fertilizer. We want transparency. The minister pretends that he does not know that not all of the farmers received their money. The president indicated that all of the people who had mortgaged their jewels and who had huge debts at the banks would receive help. But nothing has been done. The president never let his actions speak louder than his words. Jewels were auctioned because the farmers could not make their payments,” said the farmers who claim that they were tricked by the president. They expressed disappointed because the president did not respond to any of the letters that they sent to him. “The president must keep his promises.”