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Farmers peeved after access bridge destroyed
The excavator that was retrieved from the canal and the contractor walking on a board where there was a bridge.
Cash crop and livestock farmers in Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, are peeved at the fact that a private contractor has destroyed an access bridge with an excavator, at Block Eight Tuschen Backlands, and has contributed to flooding and difficulty in maintaining their respective farmlands.
According to one farmer, Shivkumar Mahase of Lot 20 Tuschen, he built the bridge with the assistance of another farmer, and the structure has been demolished for over one week, with nothing being done to rectify the situation which has pressured farmers in that area.
He said upon his first inquiry into the demolished bridge, he was verbally abused and was never told that it would be replaced. Upon investigation it was revealed that a private contractor’s excavator had fallen off the bridge, necessitating that the bridge be dismantled while removing the excavator from the canal.
Mahase explained that the demolished bridge has affected cash crop and livestock farmers alike.
“Every day I have to carry in feed, I milk eight gallon cow milk a day, and the distance…I cannot fetch these things without the bridge. My tractor cannot cross anymore.”
He added the bridge cost him over a million dollars to build, and he has reported the matter to the Regional Chairman and was told the contractor is supposed to put something in place, until the bridge is replaced.
According to one farmer called Singh, the water has raised approximately five inches, because of the blockages caused by the bulldozed bridge which has blocked the free flow of water in the canal. “This is destroying crops.”
When this newspaper visited the site where the bridge collapsed, one of the irate workmen started using profane language to describe the farmer who had reported the issue. However, he stated that the entity responsible will be replacing the bridge. “He can jump high and jump low, he got to wait!”
He said that an engineer was to visit and inspect the bridge yesterday and the contractor has already ordered materials to replace the structure. “The government chopped the land he has at the back in quarter that is what got he upset,” the workman opined.
According to the contractor, Ganesh Ramrattan, his excavator had turned over in the canal and the bridge was dismantled to retrieved it. He claims that this was done at a cost of $1M with another million dollars required in parts. “And he talking about a bruck down bridge, the bridge will be replaced.”
He stated the bridge has to be “bust in two” to allow the water to drain off the farmers’ lands since it was being flooded.
Ramrattan added the work being done will be benefiting all the farmers since the excavator has been assigned to clean the canals in the farmland for proper drainage.
(Rabindra Rooplall)
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