Still reeling from the loss of thousands of dollars in crops in last Saturday's floods, Aranguez farmers say they have lost patience because the Government continues to disappoint and discourage them. President of the Aranguez United Farmers Association Mukesh Rampersad, who represents 226 farmers, said while the Government keeps emphasising that they will make agriculture a priority, farmers are being neglected and sidelined.
He said approximately 24 farmers of Samaroo and Johnny King Streets, Aranguez, lost acres of melongene, tomato, bodi, cabbage, cucumber and pumpkin during torrential rains on August 11. "We voted for change but we got an exchange," said Rampersad. "I am disappointed with the Government. This is not what we expected. We thought they would have put agriculture on the front burner. But they just don't care."
Rampersad said there was a failure to clear watercourses in the farming community, which has been contributing to regular flooding. He said the San Juan Regional Corporation promised to install a sluice gate to control and regulate the flow of water that frequently invades their lands, but this has not materialised. "It's like living on the edge. You don't know what to expect," he said. He said drains in the area have not been cleared since June 2010, shortly after the general elections.
"They came in here to show that they care and after that it was we to catch." Since then, Rampersad said, the drains have become clogged with thick slush and debris. Rampersad said while farmers in Aranguez South had their drains desilted, those in the north were not so fortunate. He said the Ministry of Works wanted to use an excavator to clear the drains but there were concerns about the safety of that equipment.
"I told them the farmers were willing to guard the excavator at nights until the drains get cleaned, but our assurance was not good enough. We never saw them again." Pointing to half an acre of waterlogged melongene fields, Rampersad said he spent seven hours pumping water out but the most of his crops were destroyed.
To compound matters, he said, the compensation farmers were given by the Ministry of Food Production was barely enough to get them back on their feet. Rampersad said the ministry offered him 96 cents for a bearing tomato plant when water invaded his farm in July.
"One tomato seedling costs 80 cents but they offering a bearing plant 96 cents. That is ridiculous...an insult to farmers, if you ask me. I didn't make a cent. I had to cut my losses and move on. It's like making one step forward and two steps backward." On Thursday, Rampersad paid a labourer $1000 to salvage the few melongene plants that survived in his garden.
Since the rainy season began, he said, his garden has been flooded several times and he is frustrated. "I reach boiling point because nobody is taking heed of the farmers' plight. This is a regular occurrence now." At Johnny King Street, Deodath Basdeo was still counting his losses after half an acre of mature sweet pepper plants were destroyed by the floods.
Basdeo said he spent hundreds of dollars in seedlings, chemicals, fertilisers and labour to bring his crops to perfection. Five days after the floods, when water finally subsided, all his plants were wilted. Nearby, at Samaroo Street, Netindraneuth "Tinto" Sundar complained that a quarter acre of cucumbers and bodi were damaged in the deluge. "This is the second flood for the year. There is only so much we can take," he said.
Sundar said as a last ditch measure he built a mud embankment around the perimeter of his garden to prevent water from flowing into his lands. "I tried something but that did not help. The water still rushed in." Rampersad said the farmers may have to rent an excavator to clear the drains, which will put an additional strain on their pockets. "We already fighting to keep afloat. It's like a drowning man grasping at straws," he said.
