Black Bush Polder rice and cash crop farmers are bracing for widespread damage to their crops from floodwaters that have already caused millions of dollars in losses.
The main concern is the immediate threat the floods pose to several cash-crops such as cabbages, tomatoes and sweet peppers.
“Farmers are suffering huge losses since the water that has swamped their farms are not draining away,” said Sally Singh, a frustrated cashcrop farmer from Mibicuri.
“Over two weeks now this water deh here and nobody care, when the chairman come, he drive on the road top and say the place okay, he nah come in ah back here and see suffering,” the woman lamented.
The farmer said she lost over two acres of cabbages and one acre sweet pepper and tomatoes.
“Everybody knows how dem thing this expensive to plant and now when you about to reap, everything destroyed,” she lamented, blaming her woes on the regional administration.
She also revealed that her family has been working tirelessly to save their crops, but the inundation is not receding.
Singh said whenever government would assist in these situations, the farmers never benefit.
“Me husband pump out water day and night and now the water get so high there is nowhere to pump it, now we don’t know what to do and even if government send flood relief, we never get nothing because when you go and ask, they say it done,” she stated.
Another farmer John Mangal said he is thinking of leaving the area as his entire bottom house is flooded.
“Me whole place flood out, all me garden and when you see them go bring flood relief is dem own people dem go give, we never get none,” he said.
Mangal said the Neighbour Democratic Council’s (NDC) performance leaves much to be desired.
“The NDC na able with nothing, they need to close it down, trust me, we living in a savannah here, they take the savannah and plant rice and all the water coming here and flood we out,” he said.
Many other cash crop farmers suffered great losses, some of them seemed perplexed and in a state of distress as they contemplate their next move. Krishna Persaud said he used his entire savings to invest in tomatoes and sweet peppers but now he does not know what to do as everything has been destroyed.
He told this publication that poor management and supervision of the NDC are the cause for the woes and discomfort being faced by farmers.
Meanwhile, rice farmers who would have cultivated their fields recently are hoping that the floodwaters will recede as soon as possible as it is posing a threat to their livelihood.
