Sascha Wilson
Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
As Los Iros farmers await assistance from the Government, they continued to try to salvage and harvest their crops yesterday, despite a massive land movement that has cut off vehicle access to their gardens.
Kishore Ragoobar spent most of the day making two-mile trips back and forth from his garden off Royal Engineering Road, commonly called RE Road, to get his tomatoes to the markets and customers in Debe, Penal and Barrackpore.
He is among 35 farmers affected after gaping cracks developed on the land last Friday, causing sections to rise and sink. In one area, the road broke off and shifted more than 50 feet, damaging their farms, crops, ponds, and packing and processing sheds.
When Guardian Media called Ragoobar around 4 pm yesterday, he was still in his garden, harvesting his tomatoes.
“It really, really hard,” lamented Ragoobar, who sounded out of breath.
“Is an acre of tomatoes I am harvesting. So is thousands of pounds of tomatoes we carrying out in crocus bags.”
He said they were using wheelbarrows for part of the way but had to carry the bags by hand through areas where wheelbarrows could not pass.
The distance to his garden one way is two miles. He said he had to hire two other workers, each of whom carried about eight crocus bags, paying them $150 to $200 per trip.
Ragoobar complained that the land was still moving, but mostly in the night. Pleased that acting Agriculture Minister Saddam Hosein and La Brea MP Clyde Elder visited on Sunday, met with them and toured the affected area, Ragoobar said he was hoping that they would get relief soon.
While some farmers suggested relocation, as it was not the first time they were adversely impacted by land movement in the area, Ragoobar said he preferred to stay on his land.
He suggested the use of an alternative route but said the Government would first have to repair a bridge on that road.
Meanwhile, Angus Prince, a supervisor at the Erin Bouffe Mud Volcano, said “it is impossible” to access the volcano park, which is a popular tourist attraction. Senior geologist Xavier Moonan, who visited the site on Sunday, said the destruction was a result of the movement of the fault line, similar to what had occurred in 2018 after a major earthquake. He opined that the movement would continue, resulting in further damage.
Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Hosein said the purpose of their visit was to assess the damage, speak with farmers and find solutions to the issues. He said, “This is part of our nation’s food basket, and we have to take care of these farmers. We have to treat them with the respect that they deserve.”
Noting that he was from the area, Elder said he was aware of land movement issues and would assist in the best way possible, including short, medium and long-term measures.
Pointing out that what had happened was an act of God, he said there were some things they would not be able to do, but he assured that the Government would assist where it could.
“The difference between 2018 and now, while the situation may be worse than it was, the response from the government is going to be much different than it was in 2018,” he assured.
The farmers complained that they received no compensation from the government when they suffered losses in 2018.