Some restaurateurs are fearful that a rice shortage could be looming for the TCI, which they said has the potential of unsettling their core customer base that makes the staple a part of its daily diet whether at lunch or dinner time.

While the grain was spotted at the various supermarket outlets, checks made by this newspaper revealed that some of the more popular brands of rice were not seen on some supermarket shelves, and some restaurant operators said as a result they had to settle for other brands, some of which, under normal circumstances, would not be their first choice.

And while some restaurants are declaring that they were yet to experience the shortage, others said the signs of rice rationing were ominous.

When contacted, a representative of Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurant said they saw signs of rice shortage, as evidently when they went to shop for the commodity, it was not in the proportion that it usually was. The restaurant representative said as a result, the eatery was stocking up on the commodity, so in the event of a shortage, they would not be too affected, at least not over the short term.

Bangkok Express Restaurant, with which this newspaper spoke, said they had not seen a shortage of rice on the horizon, but however, noted that if there was one, it would not affect that restaurant, since its stable comes directly from Thailand .

Club Sodax noted, too, that they would not be affected in the event of a rice shortage in the TCI, since they do not use the supermarkets to shore-up their stocks, but instead, make their purchases directly from overseas. The restaurant operators told The SUN that each time they replenish their stock; they always make a sizable purchase of the staple with the intention of each stock serving for long periods.

Smokey's Restaurant told this newspaper that they had experienced a small glitch in its rice purchase earlier this week. They were out of luck after visiting three supermarkets outlets in the week before finally locating the grain at Island Pride. They, however, stressed that they did not fear a shortage, since when they visited at least one of the spots where earlier there was no rice, the commodity was in stock, even though the more known brands that were prominently displayed were evidently absent from the shelves.

Some Caribbean countries have been threatened with the shortage of basic staple such as rice, flour, corn and sugar, since cultivators of these products are being wooed into selling their crops to the lucrative ethanol market, which is being used as an alternative to fossil fuel. As a result, this has caused a spike in the price of these commodities, pushing it out of the reach of the masses in some countries, even in the Caribbean .

As a result of the food shortage, a number of riots occurred at different parts of the world, even in neighbouring Haiti , where protestors burned tyres along roadways and set building ablaze as they demand a roll-back in the price of staple and staple-based items. As a result of the impending rice shortage, some Caricom Countries are asking the Secretariat to suspend the Common External Tariff (CET) on some staple items, so as to satisfy the demand in their own countries.

However, this was not well digested by Guyana – the ‘rice basket' of the Caribbean. According to the Guyana authorities, that country has enough rice to satisfy the demand of the Caribbean, and as a result the CET should not be lifted to saturate the market with, especially the heavily subsidized commodity from the United States . Jamaica is main lobbyist for the suspension of the CET.