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Canal number two farmers up in arms over halting of drainage works
A group of farmers from the Canal Number Two Polder is angry over the premature halt to drainage works, which they blame on the head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority and two other farmers who are closely associated with him.
A section of the impassable dam that the farmers have to cope with.
The farmers, who are members of the Spilweir Farmers’ Group, had secured the commitment of Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, to have the works done to alleviate problems associated with the transporting of their produce from their farmlands.
But two weeks after the work commenced, Head of the NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth instructed that it be stopped, claiming that it will lead to the flooding of other farming areas in the community.
Mohamed Rasheed, who has been farming in the area for the past 10 years, told this newspaper that because of the previous state of the dam and canal that provided access to his farm, he had to cease operation for a while.
So he was excited when a delegation from his farming group met with Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud in 2008 and got him to commit to rectifying the problem.
“Last March the Minister promise we to send in a machine, after the engineer (Wordsworth) got we in a circle,” Rasheed said.
According to another farmer, Jermaine David, when the work commenced, an engineer appointed by NDIA to work with the project had no objection to the works being carried out.
In fact, he was praised by the farmers for his supervision of the work.
“He worked according to the Minister’s instruction; he was there, he saw the Hymac working, and subsequently the machine stopped working when the work was three-quarter completed,” David told this newspaper.
At a meeting on Friday, which was attended by the NDIA Head, the farmers queried why the work was halted.
They told this newspaper that two individuals from the community had objected to the work, claiming that it would lead to excessive water being drained from the farmlands resulting in flooding to other areas.
“They influence the stopping of the work and got we suspended right now. We can’t use the dam or the canal. Everybody frustrated,” Rasheed said.
The farmers stand to suffer significant losses since they have already begun to reap produce from their farmlands with no way of getting it to the market.
Rasheed cultivates papaws and also operates a livestock farm in the area, while David is expected to start reaping acres of watermelons.
“We showed Wordsworth, who is the chief NDIA engineer, what is the position, we took him to the area and he realised the water cannot affect other areas. All we want is for them to continue the work, it’s just about 300 rods to clean in order for every farmer to access their lands and everybody will benefit,” David said.
“It was the same Wordsworth who was the engineer sent by the Minister to do a feasibility study; it was the same Wordsworth who had given approval for the work,” David added.
The farmers are convinced that with the infrastructure works carried out by government in the Canal Number Two area, there is very minimal likelihood of significant flooding even if there is excessive rainfall.
They are hoping that the project will recommence soon so that their losses can be minimised.
“I had to invest money to get a machine to prepare my land and all of us employ people to work on our farms, so this situation is not looking good for us,” David, who is the largest producer of watermelons in Canal Number Two told this newspaper.
Three of the affected farmers (from left) Balgobin, Mohamed Rasheed and Jermaine David.
“If these people know what farming is, they will know that watermelon cannot be taken from boat and thrown into trucks. They want us to take half of the distance by truck and the other half by boat. Anytime watermelon fall on the ground, it will look like if it is good but inside it damage,” Balgobin, another farmer said.
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