John Myers Jr., Agriculture Coordinator
Coffee farmers will have to wait another three weeks before they start receiving portions of the $100 million that has been allocated by the Government pending the outcome of the legal battle between the trustees of the coffee farmers insurance fund and the liquidators of the collapsed Dyoll Insurance Company.
Graham Dunkley, director general of the Coffee Industry Board (CIB), told Farmers Weekly last Thursday that the 5,872 farmers who made claims should have received payment on July 28, but a delay by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands in paying over the money has forced the payment date to be pushed back.
He said the farmers should start receiving payment by the end of August if the ministry paid over the sum on the weekend.
Delay was due to a logistical problem
Donovan Stanberry, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, yesterday said the ministry had paid over the money. He said the delay was due to a logistical problem which occurred because the farmers' trustee did not have a tax payer registration number (TRN). Under government regulations, the trustee must have a TRN to receive the money from the ministry.
Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke, in an earlier interview with Farmers Weekly, said $40 million of the $100 million would be a grant, while the remaining $60 million would be an advancement, pending the outcome of the court case. It is understood that a portion of the grant is to go to coffee farmers whose crop was destroyed but had no insurance.
"We believe that the farmers, having waited so long and seeing the direction that the legal situation is taking, does suggest that they have a very good case so we are prepared to take a chance," Mr. Clarke said.
The Minister said the money would be disbursed through the Coffee Industry Board. Mr. Dunkley, however, pointed out that the CIB would only be responsible for about 15 per
cent of the grant portion. The remainder, he said, would be administered by the trustees of the coffee farmers insurance fund.
In the meantime, the CIB
director general explained that consultations were currently being held with the beneficiaries to determine how the portion of the grant to be administered by the Board is to be utilised.
