Throng of rice growers pickets Agriculture to demand RD$1.0B debt payment

SANTO DOMINGO.- Dozens of rice growers from across the country are picketing the Agriculture Ministry to demand that the government pays a debt of more than RD$1.0 billion.

Carrying signs and chanting slogans, the throng of rice producers grouped in Fenarroz arrived in the Agriculture ministry to wait being heard by the sector’s authorities.

Fenarroz president Iván Tio said the government has them on the brink of bankruptcy, for not paying the money owed for the milling cycle.

Rice grower Virgilio Rosario said that the producers are prepared to die in their fight if the government doesn’t meet their demands.

Among the rice growers’ chants figure “Chio, traitor, minister importer,” in reference to Agriculture chief Salvador (Chio) Jimenez, while one of the pickets stated “this fight forges ahead and there’s no minister who can withstand it.”