Govt., Opposition still unmoved by cries of local fisherfolk, rice farmers – Glenn Lall

Apr 09, 2025 News

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— as industries continue to plummet 

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana and political opposition continue to turn a blind eye to the ongoing cries of local fisherfolk and rice farmers, Publisher of the Kaieteur News, Glenn Lall has stated.

According to Lall, the government and opposition are either “fishing for answers, or fishing for what can come their way from Exxon, because while they smile for the cameras and sign new oil projects, our fisherfolk can’t even afford to buy ka-ka belly (mud fish) to eat.”

During his radio programme aired on 99.1/ 99.5 FM. last Friday, Lall addressed what he dubbed the “pure, cold, brutal betrayal to the core from both the PPP and the PNC,” of operators in the fishing and rice industries.

“Call it what you want guys, shout how you feel, or suffer in silence Guyana—this is betrayal: Both know what is going on. They have read the reports. They have seen the numbers. They have heard the cries. And still—they do nothing and say nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Regarding the fishing industry, Lall said every country, whose sector was affected by oil operations, has received compensation. “Why not our people, Guyana?”

“How many times must we scream before somebody listens? Men and women, bawling their eyes out, because their entire livelihood has been shattered-not by nature, but by Exxon’s operations out there in our waters,” he told his radio audience.

Lall said boats are lining the riverbanks “like tombstones, parked up, rotting in the sun and rain, from Berbice to Essequibo, from Pomeroon to Demerara.  Nets and engines packed away in storerooms like ornaments, while the fishermen and their families who once depended on them, sit at home with empty pots, empty stomachs, and no compensation in sight.”

He recalled that he was recently contacted by a woman who tearfully revealed that she pledged her home to the bank for a loan to build two fishing boats for her sons. Today, three years later, she is saddled with heavy bank debts and no income, since there have been no fishing activities for some time.

“Imagine that. A mother on the edge of losing her family home to the bank—not because she was careless… not because she mismanaged her money… not because she sat down and waited on the government, but because the leaders of this country have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the cries of their own people. Their silence is louder than our cries.  he questioned “Where is the solution to this crisis, where is the compensation-not only to that woman, but for all the others who are suffering that same fate across this land?”

Meanwhile, bigger players in the industry, whose lives were built on the trade, have also lamented that the sector is dying. According to Lall, 90 percent of them are seeking a way out.

Only last week, Pritipaul Singh Investment reported that fish exports have dropped from 20 containers per month to two. Lall said those figures represent a 90 percent decline in export. He said a company that only recently built a US$70 million seafood plant, is now asking what will become of its investment, loans and employees.

“ExxonMobil drilling profits, while our fisherfolk drilling holes in their pockets. This is what Exxon and that oil has done to our once vibrant fishing industry. And the govt. along with the opposition and ExxonMobil, pretending that what is happening to our fisherfolk is not that much of a big deal, and they have no duty to do anything,” Lall exclaimed.

He continued, “instead of real solutions, they are offering silence, instead of care with compensation, they are holding press conferences filled with deceptive speeches and excuses. Plenty talk, no relief, plenty oil, but no justice. Instead of fighting for justice and full compensation, our leaders sitting deaf and dumb—yes, they sit silent while ExxonMobil and their partners continue to rake out US billions—while the people who fed this country for decades are left drowning in debt and sorrow.

Turning his attention to the rice industry, Mr. Lall said like fishermen, rice farmers have given up hope of any relief from the government.

He said the sector, which once fed the Caribbean and Venezuela, is now buried in its own fields. “The same rice that once pushed this economy, built cities, built homes, fed families, paid school fees, and created thousands of jobs from Berbice to Essequibo… it’s lying flat on its back, on life support at the Georgetown Hospital… and no real doctor in this country can bring it back.  Not even if they have five titles of doctorate behind their names like Bharat Jagdeo, can revive the rice sector.”

He said farmers in Regions Two, Three, Five and Six will admit that they cannot survive the current tice prices as the market is unstable. “The government and opposition are missing in action. Fertiliser prices sky high. Fuel price choking the breath out of us, spare parts expensive. Workers disappearing and the weather unpredictable and unbearable.

He said like fishermen, rice farmers are borrowing from banks and sinking in debt, hoping for a single good crop to pull them out the ‘black hole’ they find themselves in.  “But that crop not coming, because this rice industry dying slowly, while the leaders watching on like if all of this going on in another country.  Just like the fisherfolk, our rice farmers are facing a much harsher reality, a brutal reality.”

He pointed to a Berbice rice farmer who he said has three combines, six tractor-trailers among other things, who is facing the harsh reality of mounting debts and dwindling livelihood.

He said for years his machinery was used to cultivate his 350-acre rice field and sustain his family. However, as the price of fuel, spares parts, and fertilisers skyrocketed, along with the lack of man-power and crumbling dams, he found himself struggling to cover costs to produce paddy.

“In a last-ditch effort to ease his financial burden, he decided to sell out his assets, so he can sleep in peace after settling with the bank. He said, Glenn, I have no choice but to sell them.  He told me in frustration, these combines and tractors have been my lifeline, but now it feels like the only way out of this misery is to sell them.”

He explained that the tractors and combines were advertised for sale at a reduced price, hoping someone would recognise their value. But days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and still, no offer.  the rice farmer further lowered the price, desperate for a buyer. Even at half its original value, no one came forward.

“His story is not just one farmer’s pain, it is a mirror of the broader collapse of the rice sector in motion, where the unstable market price for the paddy is now pushing many farmers to the brink. With no assistance in sight and no buyers for the equipment, his future is now uncertain. Despite his efforts to keep the rice going, he is now faced with the harsh reality that his livelihood is slipping through the doors, and the tractors and combines he once depended on, may soon become just another piece of scrap metal in his yard.”

He continued, “and this Guyana is where we are. We had a chance, a real chance to take our rice, process it, add value, package it, brand it, and sell it with pride across the region and the world. We could have lifted this country and our people with what we grow. But what did our leaders do?”

The Kaieteur News publisher said the government has allowed the industry to rot, leaving farmers behind and handed the spotlight to ExxonMobil. He said it has placed the country’s hopes in the lap of the oil company and turned its back on the very people who fed the nation for generations.

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• Exxon Mobil, fisherfolk, Government, opposition, Rice farmers

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