The Ministry of Agriculture has told rice farmers in Region 6, that they are working on getting clogged canals cleared and fuel for pumps to irrigate the lands.
The Department of Public Information (DPI) said that to this end, excavators have been deployed to the area.
DPI said that the issue arose when Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder and a team visited Number 55 Village and Black Bush Polder on Friday.
The farmers, most of whom have already prepared their fields, are awaiting water before they begin planting the next crop. They told the minister and his team that it is essential they start before the end of the year to avoid having to harvest during the rainy season next year.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Frederick Flatts said that they had previously installed five pumps to address this situation.
Responding to concerns that only two of the pumps are functional, Holder said that this is due to negligence on the part of the regional administration. He said that the government had put systems in place to have NDIA handle the main Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) and the administrative regions handle the secondary drains. This, he said, was agreed in 2018, however, the Region 6 administration backtracked on the agreement, thus resulting in many of the issues currently being faced.
A meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow at the NDIA for follow-up intervention.
