MILK retailers were excluded from an official briefing on latest plans for their futures. Two representatives from the Guernsey Milk Retailers Association, which has been at loggerheads with the Commerce and Employment Department for the past 18 months over reform of the dairy industry, turned up to a meeting to inform States members on Thursday afternoon.
But Brian Martel and Kerry Piriou were told by senior staff that they would not be allowed in and were left outside the department’s headquarters at Raymond Falla House.
They argued that they had been given the impression by Commerce and Employment minister Stuart Falla that they could attend, but this was denied.
‘It’s disappointing because we were led to believe by the minister that he was not against us attending the meeting,’ said Mr Martel, an association committee member and long-serving roundsman.
‘Clearly this is a question of what is there to hide?’
Mr Martel said the retailers were clearly upset by the whole process and feared for their futures. The association had been sent one copy of the billet containing the States report on the issue, which arrived on Thursday.
Members had not yet had a chance to fully digest the contents and he felt that attending the meeting would have left them better informed.
‘This is literally life and death to us in a working sense,’ Mr Martel added. ‘Our view is that some of the things that have been discussed and approved in the past could be looking to undermine our whole business.’
The association has been in consultation with the department on the issue for the past 14 months or so, but Mr Martel said it felt far from clear on the entirety of the proposals.
‘They have been very selective in what they let us see they were proposing.’
The association was also upset as it allowed Commerce and Employment member Carla McNulty Bauer into a briefing meeting for deputies that it had previously staged on the issue, despite having specifically excluded the department when issuing invitations.
Deputy Falla denied that he had suggested that the retailers could attend the briefing, one of a few organised for States members in the next few days.
‘We said that if we had a public meeting for all stakeholders they would be included. They were not invited, neither were the farmers, the large retailers and consumers.’
He said that the department had not decided whether to hold a public meeting.
‘We’re going to judge that on the level of interest shown by States members and the media.’
He said that the briefing had been ‘an interesting couple of hours’.
‘Some members came with pre-judgements because of what had happened 15 months ago and wanted those explored.’
Article posted on 7th April, 2007 - 12.00am
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