Frustrated farmers complain bitterly about roads, poor drainage
Flooding in Black Bush Polder…
Women of Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice, were angry yesterday during their meeting with Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha.0
Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, addressing Black Bush Polder residents and others yesterday.
Kaieteur News – Residents from the four polders in Black Bush – Lesbeholden, Mibicuri, Johanna and Yakusari – yesterday complained bitterly about a number of issues that they said have caused them to become frustrated and angry.
At Lesbeholden, several women, who were visibly angry, complained that a dam located near the primary school in that area is in a deplorable state and has been neglected for a number of years. They said that they were told on many occasions, that the road was included in the work programme, but was never done.
Yesterday, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, led a team to the area, to check up on flooding.
The Minister asked the Chairman of Region Six, David Armogan, to include the road for consideration.
The residents also asked that the unwanted vegetation be cleared in several locations in Black Bush. The regional administration has been mandated to find a heavy duty machine to clear the areas.
At Mibicuri, Johanna and Yakusari, a number of drainage issues together with cattle and cash crop farming issues were raised. Many farmers complained that because the drainage systems were in an unacceptable state, it led to flooding in several areas in the Black Bush Polder.
Minister Mustapha, speaking with the media after the meetings, explained that his visit was a result of reports received that cash crop farmers and residents were experiencing flooding.
He added that he made the decision to visit the areas with teams from all the agriculture agencies and the regional administration to have a first-hand look at the situation.
He pointed out that a number of areas have been affected “especially Johanna and Yakusari and to an extent Mibicuri. Farmers have complained that they have lost many cash crops and as a result, I will be conducting a survey tomorrow with NAREI and GLDA to see the extent of it.”
The Minister disclosed that based on the complaints received, he has made arrangements to put mechanisms in place to improve drainage.
“We will ensure that they have 24-hour drainage,” Minister Mustapha said.
In addition, several persons are expected to commence monitoring of the sluices and pumps within the areas since there were complaints that the pumps and sluices were not operating on a daily basis.
A resident recommended that there be someone to monitor the pumps and sluices on a 24-hour basis, and those recommendations were taken into consideration by the Minister.
The persons who will be monitoring those systems will be given a stipend to do so, the Minister said.
Furthermore, following complaints about the poor drainage and the overgrowth of vegetation, the Minister instructed NDIA to send in emergency machinery to execute the works, “because they said a number of areas need proper drainage so what we will be doing, in places like Johanna, we will do all the back drains and front drains…and also in Yakusari, because this is an area that normally suffers a lot whenever the rain falls.”
Engineer, Lionel Wordsworth, was also instructed to look at the systems currently in place, “to see how we can improve it because we can’t continue to have farmers suffering in this way,” the Minister said.
It is expected that within another day or two, the polders will be drained effectively, the Minister said.
Present during the visit also were Vice Chairman, Zamal Hussain; Ministry of Agriculture staffers, and representatives of the other agencies within the Ministry.
