Dear Editor,
I know that other areas have been affected by rain, but the visit that I made to the New Forest area in East Canje showed clearly that it is not just the rain that has caused damage and loss to farmers. Additional harm has been brought to the rice farmers by the negligence of the government-appointed contractor who is working to build the roads in East Canje.
This contractor graded the river bank to fill the road (at certain parts) and in his wildest dreams could not have foreseen that a high tide would overflow the bank that was graded. Low and behold the rains came and the high tide came and now you can go fishing on the public road going into New Forest. What is being done about the flooded roads? They cannot do anything now, so those who are responsible, the funny people who gave them the contract, and the suffering farmers and villagers have to sit out the rains and hope for a man with a vision to come by and offer the farmers some sort of hope.
The Regional Chairman ought to offer some compensation to these farmers and maybe ask the contractor what exactly he is doing on the roads in East Canje. He has stopped the rehabilitation of the East Canje Road at Rose Hall and has used his heavy duty trucks to make a swamp of most of the rest of the roads that have not been repaired. This is election year. The Chairman should do as has been done in the past, have the roads patched up and then he can ask us to vote for the PPP/C. Not this time though. They are not getting our vote.
Yours faithfully,
Charrandass Persaud
