Months after promising that farmers whose crops were damaged during the construction of the Hope Canal would be compensated, the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday finally handed over cheques to farmers but it was not to the level expected.
This followed an article in the Stabroek News last week which reported on the complaints by famers who cultivate along the Hope Canal, East Coast Demerara that the ministry had not kept promises to them and they were yet to receive compensation for crops damaged during the building of sections of the canal last year as well as new land to farm.
Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, late last year had promised to address the concerns of residents and farmers located in the vicinity of the worksite but residents said the ministry failed to do so. Late last year and early this year, farmers had lost crops after the mud excavated from the canal was dumped on portions of vegetable and rice fields. Rabindranauth Doodnauth had recalled that he had paid $140 for young papaw plants and some that were already grown were destroyed during the construction. He said that the ministry had offered compensation of $40 per plant and this was not satisfactory but they had not heard from the ministry since.
Yesterday, Stabroek News was told that the ministry visited on Friday and distributed cheques but not to the full value of the crops lost. “What they come with before, they come with again,” one farmer said.
In addition, farmers had been told that replacement land would be allocated to those whose land was taken over for the canal but this has not been done.
One farmer, Roy Doodnauth, who had applied to the chairman of the Hope Estate for land to rent three times since 2010, said when he questioned officials on Friday, he was not given a response. “I talk to them and they can’t respond to me. They say they can’t tell me nothing or something,” he recounted.
He said other issues were not addressed during the visit. As works move apace, residents at Dochfour along the canal, many of whom farm for a living said that they have to contend with the issues resulting from the construction of the canal on their own.
They said that drainage and irrigation is poor because of the high piles of mud at the side of the canal. Although the ministry had offered 16 hours of work with excavators to the farmers to dig drains and crown dams, this is not enough, some farmers said.
The $3.6 billion Hope canal, when completed, is expected to help drain the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) into the Atlantic Ocean. Currently when the water reaches a high level in the EDWC, water is drained through the Maduni and Lama sluices into the Mahaica and Mahaicony creeks resulting in overtopping and flooding in these areas.
