Rice farmers attached to the Corentyne Youth Farmers Co-op are pleading with the authorities to assist with clearing a canal to improve farming activities in the area and a top official has pledged to find a solution.
The farmers had met with the Prime Minister’s Representative in Region Five, Gobin Harbhajan, who arranged a meeting with the farmers and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Fredrick Flatts. Flatts visited the region and after meeting with the farmers, asked that they take him to the site where works need to be done.
The trip was made last Thursday. Flatts and the farmers travelled from the Number 52 Village entrance, 39,000 feet down to the backlands, which is the length of the canal that needs to be cleared. During the journey, the troubled farmers explained to Flatts that there are at least four stopovers before their rice fields where they have to pull their boats to another canal.
This, the farmers said, takes up most of their time as it takes approximately one hour to reach their rice fields and two hours to return. They explained that with the cleared canal, they can make one straight trip to their rice fields which will take them just over 20 minutes.
Flatts, after completing the trip, told Stabroek News that he has seen first-hand the difficulties the farmers experience on a daily basis. He said the NDIA will now look at the matter from different angles and come up with a solution to assist the farmers.
Harbhajan said the farmers have their rice fields at that specific location mainly because in 2010, 31 farmers came together and formed the co-op and invested $8.5 million each, a total of $255 million to prepare the land for cultivation. Most farmers stated that they foresaw a major turnover, hence they were not hesitant to apply for loans to get the large sum of money.
The farmers emphasised that they are experiencing issues with draining their rice lands and once the canal is cleared, they will no longer have that problem. They also said that since their 3000 acres of rice lands are in close proximity to the Canje Creek, they are experiencing problems with residents of the area.
“Them a tell abie that we rice field water with chemical ah drain into the creek” one man said. “They leave one note saying that we should be careful even, so if this canal dig everyone gon be happy,” he added.
The farmers are hoping that the canal will be cleared before December when they reap their next crop.
