Srt Marine Sys. Share Price (SRT)

Apols for the somewhat O/T , but it IS the weekend.

It may be cold comfort for SRT investors, but we're not alone in being caught up in domestic Philippine politics, where this time it seems ideology, rather than financial gain, is frustrating a public good that would benefit the poor.

It concerns the recent prohibition on Golden Rice, a genetically-engineered rice that can materially reduce blindness in children caused by Vitamin A deficiency.

The case FOR is here :

hxxps://www.nnc.gov.ph/regional-offices/mindanao/region-ix-zamboanga-peninsula/5767-golden-rice-a-staple-food-with-precious-benefits

The background is here :

hxxps://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/11/08/golden-rice-the-gmo-crop-loved-by-humanitarians-opposed-by-greenpeace/

"Note that because the two academic scientists who developed the original Golden Rice stipulated that it be made available to poor farmers for free Syngenta, or any other corporation, does not own the intellectual property in developing countries and therefore cannot charge royalties. According to IRRI (the International Rice Research Institute) the terms of the licenses in place in the Philippines and elsewhere ensure that Golden Rice varieties will cost no more than their conventional equivalents. This means that farmers will be able to save and replant Golden Rice seeds."

The benefits are clear :

.."Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most important issues in terms of global public health, according to the World Health Organization. It is a leading cause of childhood blindness in the developing world, and weakens the immune system, increasing vulnerability to illnesses such as measles, respiratory infections and diarrhea, often leading to death.

The condition affects more than 140 million pre-school children in 118 nations, and more than seven million pregnant women. UNICEF estimates that 1.15 million child deaths are precipitated by vitamin A deficiency each year..."

The recent judgment by the Court of Appeals - to put a moratorium on the use of Golden Rice- is applauded by Greenpeace in these terms

ttps://www.greenpeace.org/philippines/press/63501/greenpeace-statement-on-peoples-win-against-genetically-modified-rice/

.."We reiterate our stance: the involved companies and agencies have yet to show concrete evidence that these crops would be in the best interest of Filipinos, our environment, and our agricultural sector..."

It's not quite clear who benefits from this verdict - apart from being a 'win' for Greenpeace's worldview, which seems to be that 'the environment' matters more than the people (witness its IMO equally irrational stance against nuclear energy, even more bizarre considering its potential as a transition contributor to 'net zero').

This is all sadly redolent of the apocryphal comment after the My Lai massacre in VietNam in 1968

'In order to save them [Ed.: from Communism] we had to kill them'.

Shame on you, Greenpeace!

Rant over.

Oh Dear indeed! I have been invested here for well over 3 years and only in profit by a smidgin and very briefly at that. However I bought the story - as a lifelong yachtie it chimed with my interest in things nautical and jam tomorrow did look like a likely outcome. However yesterday I thought it had been too quiet for too long on the SRT front with the sp drifting down all the while. I thought I had better take a look at all the recent announcements in detail for myself instead of relying on reports from others. Something about the way the RNS re changed year end was worded did not sit comfortably with me one bit and still giving it benefit of doubt I thought read the next announcement immediately. Most of my working life was in credit insurance and changes of year end make me sit up and take notice. Then I saw the Malayan newspaper article (Thanks goodapple) and that was just too much for me and I got out entirely at 24p. I see it went down again today albeit it has come back a bit late on but I would have thought there should be some much more definite reassurance. I still buy the idea the technology is good and maybe if it goes as low as I fear it may it will be worth a punt on the possibility of a bid. After the record -dilutions and all - I will be very cautious. Fortunately it was only a tiny holding in my portfolio.

Hi Ecologist - that was the point of my earlier post about my discussion with the FD - your experiences echo mine; I was concerned that SRT would be getting into that to win contracts, but he was adamant that all there has been a culture shift and most emerging nations try to be squeaky clean. (Not sure about Nigeria!)

"If the EU flexes its muscles, this mess may get sorted out, AFAICS."

Shame we're not still a member.

Extrader, thank you for passing that on, it is very helpful.