Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha yesterday decided to establish a committee in the Mahaicony Branch Road area to review the listing of farmers who have gotten flood relief grants after receiving numerous complaints that their losses were under-reported.
Following a meeting, which was held at the Mortice Primary School at Branch Road, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, Mustapha explained that farmers in the area were dissatisfied with the distribution of the flood relief grants.
As a result, he decided to venture to the area and meet with them. “All the areas that fall within this catchment area will have a representative to work along with the committee that was established and they will now look at those persons who are making claims that they were assessed wrongfully or they don’t have the right amount,” he said.
The minister requested that farmers select a representative from each area to be a part of the committee formed yesterday.
Mustapha stressed that he is hopeful that within a week a new “sanitised list” would be created, after which “we will do the mopping up exercise and finish off this area.”
One of the main issues raised yesterday was that farmers’ losses were incorrectly recorded, causing them to receive less than they were entitled to, while some noted that they were not even visited by an extension officer despite having suffered huge losses as a result of the flooding.
Additionally, Mustapha pointed out that the ministry encountered some difficulties since there was no established list, causing it to depend on extension officers, farmers in the community, and farmers’ organizations to craft a list. He noted, “We have that [initial] list but there are some concerns that were raised with the amount people received and we are working to resolve that.”
Meanwhile, it was also revealed that some two weeks ago an extension officer based in the area was dismissed due to similar issues raised. He said several other allegations against other extension officers were made and that “each and every single one” will be investigated and that “where the chip has to fall it has to fall.”
Recently, Mustapha announced an investigation into the compilation of lists that allegedly included persons who did not suffer flood losses.
