Three weeks after massive floods hit Lethem and other Region Nine communities, the Agriculture Ministry has moved on to phase three – recovery – as some residents pick up from where they left off, while others start over. On June22, the ministry handed over a quantity of chemicals, farming supplies and equipment; supplies to treat animals, including nutrients, planting materials, food and various forms of help to the residents.
The support is part of a Gy$50 million fund that was set up to assist flood-affected communities. The exercise will be continued for the next four months, until residents who are primarily farmers can get back on their feet and start reaping their crops.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud stands with toshaos and members of 60 Amerindian communities affected by flooding in Region Nine
griculture Minister Robert Persaud said the main focus of government is to en sure that food is available and food is being produced in the affected areas to en sure survival of residents there. Flooding, which was caused by overflowing of the Bronco River in Brazil and the Takutu River in Guyana, affected not only homes but also farms which are mostly on low-lying areas.
While some communities had lost everything, some were able to reap vegetables, but now they struggle to store them. In this regard, several cassava mills and storage vessels were also handed over to the communities. Among other needs raised by the residents were for additional technical staff to assist with crops and livestock, chemicals for the destructive acoushi ants, heavy duty machinery and, in some cases, passable roads leading to farms from the communities. Farmers were also told of what kind of diseases to expect from the floods affecting livestock.
Persaud noted that the extent of the losses has been recorded in the hundreds of pounds of various crops dam aged per community, especially peanuts and certain vegetables, cassava, water melons and other fruits. He said that given the changing times, the weather will worsen, but farmers will have to adapt and start practising climate- smart agriculture.
Some homes were affected by the flooding, and a separate cash package will be handed over to householders as soon as a report on dam age in that respect is completed and the mechanism of payment is highlighted, Persaud said. Cabinet will then approve a sum to be paid out. He emphasised that government was committed to the development of Lethem; and especially at a time like this, all efforts will be made to support affected Amerindian communities.
Persaud told residents not to be misguided by elements from other regions that would come to deceive them, as those elements were seeking their own gains. “I want to appeal to you not to be misguided by those who would seek to sow confusion. I want to put you on alert. They are not interested in your wellbeing, they are only interested in their politics; and some of them, especially some of them of the grouping, they come and try to use your discomfort and your situation to go overseas to raise money for themselves and make themselves better… we will expose them. We want your community to grow and be more prosperous,” Persaud told residents.
As residents now get back on track with their livelihoods, officials are faced with the option of bringing materials from outside of the region. Of the sixty communities that were represented by their toshaos, some said that while some crops were destroyed, they still had other crops, such as cassava and cassava sticks, for replanting.
The minister promised that the Agriculture Ministry would work out the specifics of a good package for them, and those having peanuts and cassava sticks will engage in business to sell their products. Cassava will also be purchased to feed communities that have no crops.
This local exchange is expected to greatly uplift the economies of the villages and provide a means of income that otherwise would not have existed for some farmers, the minister said.
